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Thursday, July 11, 2002 |
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• StarBand moves forward, launches in Puerto Rico • Samsung unveils new HDTV box • First Euro-DOCSIS 1.1 modem certified • "Big Brother 3" streams for a fee • Telia deals to expand backbone network • Researchers claim PWLAN will complement 3G • Sommer could be out at Deutsche Telekom StarBand moves forward, launches in Puerto Rico Despite seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, StarBand Communications Inc. has launched its two-way broadband satellite service in Puerto Rico. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, StarBand said it intended to continue its day-to-day operations while in bankruptcy proceedings. Founding partner Gilat Satellite Networks has committed to $2.8 million for debtor-in-possession financing. The Puerto Rico launch is StarBand's first service roll out since the filing. In addition to offering high-speed access to residential and small office customers, StarBand will offer a Web portal with Spanish language content. On May 24, StarBand filed a lawsuit against EchoStar Communications Corp., claiming "EchoStar has not forwarded any of the millions of dollars in fees it has collected and is collecting as its billing agent." The suit was settled two weeks later in earlier June. As part of the settlement EchoStar agreed to pay $710,000 and surrender its voting power in StarBand. StarBand agreed not to make any negative EchoStar comments in public and not to seek further legal action against EchoStar. Ever since its inception, StarBand has struggled, and despite being backed by heavyweights like EchoStar and Microsoft Corp., the StarBand system so far has signed up only a nominal number of subscribers and has been plagued with reports of poor service, distribution and performance. Related stories:
Samsung is hoping the mass-market will embrace HDTV, and is rolling out a new all-in-one HDTV set-top box receiver to entice television watchers. The electronics company is touting the SIR-TS160 as an all-in-one box because it offers reception of over-the-air digital broadcasts, analog broadcast and digital satellite programming from DirecTV. The box is the first consumer receiver to employ the industry standard digital video interface (DVI) and high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) implementation, according to Samsung. The SIR-TS160 includes a 7-day Advanced Program Guide, which integrates analog and digital signals to enable seamless switching between programs broadcast over satellite and over-the-air, Samsung said. The guide lets users search for programs by various fields, including by movie name and actors. A picture-in-picture window enables viewers to continue watching a program while they search. The box will debut this month at a MSRP of $699. Related story:
First Euro-DOCSIS 1.1 modem certified The Euro-DOCSIS Certification Board has granted its first Euro-DOCSIS 1.1 certification to Toshiba's PCX2500 cable modem. The board also granted Euro-DOCSIS 1.1 qualification status to the Arris Cadant C4 CMTS. Both companies resubmitted their products for testing in the certification wave 8 after minor problems were found during wave 7. The Euro-DOCSIS Certification Board consists of representatives of European cable operators Casema, NetCologne, NTL, Telenet, Telewest and UPC. The board expects to certify other modems in the near future. In the United States, several vendors have received DOCSIS 1.1 certification and are selling DOCSIS 1.1-certified modems or reference designs, including 3Com, Aastra, Accton, Ambit, Arris, Askey, Com21, Conexant, Correlant, Joohong, Motorola Broadband (three models), Quanta Network Systems, Samsung, Scientific-Atlanta, Tellabs, Terayon, Texas Instruments, Thomson, Toshiba, and Xrosstech. CableLabs has also qualified CMTSs from the following manufacturers: ADC, Arris, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Motorola Broadband, Riverstone Networks and S-A. The DOCSIS 2.0 specification was finalized in January and is now in the interoperability phase. DOCSIS 2.0 is an advanced physical layer addition to modem functions. The spec can increase upstream bandwidth for cable modems to 30 megabits per second — three times that of DOCSIS 1.1 units. Related stories:
"Big Brother 3" streams for a fee Big Brother is watching, are you? The
CBS reality television series "Big Brother" returned to American
TV last night for its third installment. Network officials have
again teamed with
RealNetworks Inc. in hopes of generating some extra cash --
streaming live video and audio of the 12 houseguests, for a price. Related stories:
Telia deals to expand backbone network Telia International Carrier is working to increase the bandwidth capacity of its backbone network, and is turning to Ericsson to make it happen. As part of the deal, Ericsson will supply IP core backbone routers based on Juniper Networks' T640 Internet Routing Node. The T640 offers throughput speeds of 640 Gbps. The project will get underway next month. Financial terms were not disclosed. This is not the first time Telia has teamed with Ericsson. Last year, Ericsson provided Telia with its fundamental IP backbone network in the United States and Europe. Separately, Korea Telecom said it plans to deploy Juniper's M20 Internet Routers to enhance the capacity of its national high-speed backbone network in Korea. Financial terms were not detailed. Related stories:
Researchers claim PWLAN will Copyright 2002 Gale Group, Inc.
Sommer could be out at Deutsche Telekom Copyright 2002 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. Reuters Top German union representatives at Deutsche Telekom are resisting government and shareholder demands to fire chief executive Ron Sommer at a board meeting next week, sources say. Labor and shareholder representatives clashed at a meeting of the board's powerful steering committee on Tuesday, with union officials trying to fend off government calls for a quick dismissal of Sommer, the sources said. Hans-Dietrich Winkhaus, head of the supervisory board, and finance ministry official Manfred Overhaus were leading a shareholder group calling for Sommer to be ousted. But sources familiar with the matter said they were resisted by union representatives Ruediger Schulze and Wilhelm Wegner, in the absence of an obvious Sommer successor. "There was a serious argument at the meeting on Tuesday," one person said. Union support is essential for the two-thirds majority required to sack a CEO who has presided over a nearly 280 billion euro ($277 billion U.S.) collapse in his company's market value since March, 2000. Deutsche Telekom's board meets next Tuesday. Amid speculation that Sommer is reaching the end of his career at the helm of Europe's biggest telecom operator, fresh rumors rumbled that his indebted empire was in talks to merge its U.S. mobile business, VoiceStream, with larger rival AT&T Wireless. Although sources close to the German giant said the firm may consider merging its losing U.S. arm - in the first sign that the group is willing to adopt to a new U.S. strategy - few expect a prompt deal. "My impression is that this idea has been much talked about but hasn't really got off the drawing board yet," said one financier. Sommer enraged investors by a costly, two-year expansion spree that buried the group under a staggering 67 billion euros ($66 billion U.S.) of debt. If Sommer is ousted, he will join those already felled by over-ambitious expansion strategies that have left balance sheets shattered - French media giant Vivendi Universal's CEO Jean-Marie Messier, BT Group PLC's CEO Peter Bonfield, KPN Telecom CEO Paul Smits. Related stories:
• SCTE calls for papers Papers submitted to the SCTE should follow the "Internet in Cable" theme, but the most weight will be given to papers covering one of the following topics: HFC network architectures for advanced services; open access; deploying advanced services in the MxU environmnet; traffic modeling, prediction and control, cable modem; RF and traffic measurement associated with cable modem service; migrating from DOCSIS 1.0 to DOCSIS 1.1; and DOCSIS 2.0 basics. Proposals must be submitted no later than Aug. 23 to gcalcaterra@scte.org. • WorldCom controls the most bandwidth
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