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Thursday, September 12, 2002 |
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• Cox eyes nationwide digital ad insertion rollout • nCUBE inks apartment VOD deal • iMagicTV, SaskTel team for the triple play • FCC may cancel $16 billion wireless auction • Adelphia holds out on Rigas' severance
Cox eyes nationwide digital ad insertion rollout After rolling out local digital ad insertion services in its Phoenix and Orange County, Calif. systems, Cox Communications Inc. is ready to take the service national, and is turning to SeaChange International Inc. to make it happen. Cox plans to deploy SeaChange's Transport Streams Inserter digital cable ad insertion gear in its largest systems this year, with the remaining systems receiving the equipment in 2003. By the end of the year, nine Cox master control centers and a number of headends will be upgraded, including Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia; New England; New Orleans; Oklahoma City; Omaha; San Diego; and Tulsa. In these markets, roughly six digital cable networks will be added to Cox's local ad sales inventory. The Transport Streams Inserter, a rack-mounted box, is designed to automatically enables frame-accurate insertion of locally-stored ads, infomercials or programs into digital cable networks. Yesterday, Cox said it expects to be free cash flow positive for the entire year 2003. To achieve this, Cox will cut capital expenditures $2 billion in 2002 to $1.6 billion in 2003. Related stories:
Japan's apartment manager Leopalace 21 Corp. plans to deploy nCUBE Corp.'s video-on-demand servers. Financial terms were not disclosed. Leopalace 21 will use nCUBE's platform to deliver on-demand content to 100,000 subscribers in apartment buildings in Japan. On-demand content available to subscribers will include Hollywood movies, local movies and programming and Japanese animation programs. NTT Communications Corp. will provide the broadband IP network infrastructure. nCUBE's n4x video server provides more than 200,000 hours of unique video storage and supports communities from 5,000 to 500,000 homes. Leopalace 21 manages more than 200,000 apartment homes in 7,000 buildings throughout Japan. The service will initially launch next month, with a full-scale launch completed by the second half of 2003. Once the VOD service is launched, it will be the first nationwide commercial VOD service offering on an optical fiber network in Asia, according to nCUBE. Related stories:
Looking beyond its ADSL customer base, British Telecommunications plans to launch a symmetrical DSL (SDSL) trial in London next month. In the initial phase of the trial, BT will test the service with up to 20 service providers and telecom operators. The services will be delivered through 20 local exchanges in London. By the end of the year, the company hopes to expand that number to 50 local exchanges. Unlike ADSL, SDSL uploads and downloads data at the same speeds. BT plans to trial two products -- BT IPStream Symmetric and BT DataStream Symmetric -- both of which offer data-transfer rates of up to 2 Mbps. The SDSL service will make new applications, such as videoconferencing and teleworking, available to businesses, according to BT. BT had planned to conduct its SDSL trial last year, but delayed it because of technical difficulties. Yesterday, BT announced an agreement with McAfee.com to deliver personal firewall, anti-virus and privacy services to its residential broadband customers. Related story:
iMagicTV, SaskTel team for the triple play Telecom service provider SaskTel has teamed with software provider iMagicTV to deliver voice, video and data over DSL services to more than 80,000 households in Regina, Canada. SaskTel will use iMagicTV's Media Manager software to deliver its service package, dubbed Max Interactive Services, which encompasses DSL Internet access and interactive television services. Subscribers will receive unlimited high-speed Internet on a television and a computer, four e-mail addresses, more than 20 digital TV stations, 30 music channels and Saskatchewan AM and FM radio stations. "The use of iMagicTV's Media Manager means SaskTel has the operations and administrative tools to effectively build, manage and deliver its Max service," says Gerry Pond, CEO of iMagicTV. By the end of the year, SaskTel plans to offer this service to several urban centers in Saskatchewan-Saskatoon, Yorkton, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Estevan, Weyburn, Swift Current and Moose Jaw. Related story:
FCC may cancel $16 billion wireless auction
In a move with large implications for the battered wireless industry, federal regulators will likely free major carriers of their obligation to pay the $16 billion they bid during a government auction of spectrum licenses, according to people familiar with the matter. The Federal Communications Commission could release an order seeking public comment on different options for resolving the issue as early as today, these people said. One of the proposals would allow the carriers to opt out of the auction, thus erasing their remaining debt to the government. The move would follow months of intense pressure from carriers anxious to be freed of the full amount they bid during a controversial auction of spectrum licenses reclaimed from bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. The results of that auction were thrown into disarray last year when a federal appeals court ordered the FCC to return the licenses to NextWave. The FCC appealed that decision, and the case will be heard by the Supreme Court next month. The expected FCC move could boost the sagging fortunes of the nation's wireless industry, which has been plagued by accounting scandals, plunging stock prices and brutal price wars. FCC spokeswoman Robin Pence declined to comment. Privately, though, officials at the agency said that the decision was driven by high-level concern about the battered condition of the wireless industry. The FCC's move would have the most impact on Verizon Wireless, which successfully bid roughly $8 billion for numerous NextWave licenses. Taking the company off the hook for that debt could ignite some sort of deal with Sprint Corp., whose wireless division, Sprint PCS, uses the same technology as Verizon Wireless. In May, Moody's Investors Service put Verizon and Verizon Wireless on review for a possible downgrade, citing, among other factors, the uncertainty surrounding the money bid for the NextWave spectrum licenses. Some analysts estimate that the market value of those licenses,
if rebid, would be roughly half of what they were at the original
auction. Related stories:
Adelphia holds out on Rigas' severance
NEW YORK -- Lawyers for Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas say the No. 6 cable company has reneged on a severance agreement it made in May -- and the one-time CEO is retaliating by refusing to place his stock into a voting trust. "It won't happen," says Steve Harmelin of Dilworth Paxon. They consider the deal "null and void," says a partner at the firm, Larry McMichael. "It's disturbing when anyone, including a corporate board, would break a contract presumably signed in good faith," says Peter Fleming of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle, who also represents Rigas. Adelphia declined to comment. But one person briefed on the situation says the company considered the severance agreement obsolete early in the summer after it uncovered new information about some of Rigas' business deals. That contributed to the July 24 arrests of Rigas, 77, and sons Timothy, 46, and Michael 48, on multiple charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, as well as to a civil suit against them by Adelphia and a temporary restraining order preventing Rigas from selling real estate in which the company also has an interest. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in June, months after it disclosed that Rigas and his family had secretly used Adelphia assets as collateral for more than $3 billion in loans to a private, family-run partnership. In May, Rigas resigned from the company, transferred about $1 billion in assets to Adelphia, and agreed to put his shares into a voting trust. The Rigas family holds shares with 60 percent of the company's votes. In return, the company was to pay him $1.4 million a year for three years, cover his health insurance, and provide additional benefits, including use of the company plane and secretarial support. The agreement relieved Adelphia of these obligations if Rigas was convicted of a felony. In other Adelphia news, the company is said to be closing in on a deal to hire board member Rod Cornelius as CEO, replacing acting CEO Erland Kailbourne. Cornelius rose through the ranks at Cablevision Industries before
it was sold to Time Warner in 1996. Then he helped to form Renaissance
Communications, which was sold to Charter Communications. He's
now a cable investor. Related stories:
• Cunningham joins Electroline Electroline Equipment has named Robert Cunningham vice president of sales. He will manage the company's sales worldwide. He comes to the company from BarcoNet where he served as vice president and general manager of North America. Cunningham was chosen for the CATV industry experience he brings to his new post. • South Dakota telco taps Next Level James Valley Cooperative Telephone Co. has selected Next Level Communications' Full Service Access Platform to deliver bundled digital television, voice and data services in Groton, South Dakota. Financial terms were not disclosed. • Sonus Networks adds partners Terayon Communication Systems Inc. and Unisys Corp. have joined Sonus Networks' Open Services Partner Alliance. The OSPA brings together telecom hardware and software vendors providing a variety of products such as enhanced services, network infrastructure and operations support systems.
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