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Monday, October 28, 2002 |
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• Alcatel reaches DSL milestone • Revenue up, Comcast gets back in the black • Time Warner picks up Pace for Indy VOD launch • DragonWave breathes fire into bridge network • Cable nets try free VOD with iN Demand
Charter Communications is moving full speed ahead with its video-on-demand launch. The MSO is rolling out the service in nine new markets with the help of VOD equipment vendors nCUBE Corp. and Concurrent Computer Corp. Charter is introducing VOD to its customers in Allendale, Mich.; Fond du Lac, Janesville and Madison, Wis.; Jackson, Kingsport and Manchester, Tenn.; Kennewick, Wash.; and St. Peters, Mo. The addition of these markets extends Charter's VOD reach to 21 markets. In five of the new markets, Charter will deploy Concurrent's MediaHawk Broadband VOD system. Concurrent's equipment will serve Allendale, St. Peters, Fond du Lac, Janesville and Madison. Charter has deployed Concurrent equipment in 11 markets thus far. Concurrent first signed on as a Charter VOD partner in April. The deal marked the end of Charter's exclusive partnership with the now bankrupt Diva Systems Inc. nCUBE's n4x enhanced video server will be used in the four remaining markets, which will bring the total number of markets Charter has deployed the vendor's equipment to 10. This latest deployment covers the cities of Kennewick, Kingsport, Jackson and Manchester. nCUBE inked its partnership with Charter in June. Charter Digital Cable subscribers have access to the VOD service via their existing set-tops. VOD programming prices range between 99 cents for children's programs to $3.99 for a recently released movie for a 24 hour rental period. Related stories:
Alcatel continues to push forward in the DSL equipment market as the telco gear maker announced that it has shipped 20 million digital subscriber lines. The lines, which encompass both asymmetric DSL and symmetric DSL, are supported by the company's 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) broadband access platform. Australian carrier Telstra has become the latest carrier to deploy Alcatel's broadband access platform. To keep the momentum going, Alcatel has made some enhancements to the 7300 ASAM platform, including standards-compliant customer premises equipment auto configuration, which enable operators to reduce manual field operations tasks by dynamically configuring the CP and CPE, according to Alcatel. "The most critical element in ensuring DSL network success for carriers is reducing customer acquisition costs and activation time to the absolute minimum," said Michel Rahier, president of Alcatel's broadband networking activities. Other upgrades to the platform include the addition of the multiservice IP Services Module and IP-based services, including VOD and music downloads. Simultaneously, Alcatel said it is rolling out a low-profile remote DSL Access Multiplexer. The DSLAM is designed to reduce power consumption and increase component density, Alcatel said. Related stories:
Revenue up, Comcast gets back in the black Comcast Corp. posted a more than 12 percent jump in third-quarter sales as the MSO signed up more high-speed Internet and digital cable customers. During the quarter, Comcast added 169,800 high-speed Internet customers and 205,000 digital cable boxes. At the close of the quarter, Comcast had 1.3 million high-speed Internet customers -- a 68.9 percent boost compared to a year ago -- and had 2.9 million digital cable boxes in service. The company posted net income of $75.6 million, or 8 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $106.8 million, or 11 cents a share, a year ago. Comcast's net loss a year ago surrounded the fall of Excite@Home. Comcast posted revenue of $2.71 billion, up from $2.4 billion a year ago. Revenue for its cable division increased 12.3 percent to $1.5 billion, compared to the $1.4 billion recorded in Q3 2001. The division has rolled out video-on-demand service to more than 6 million homes. In conjunction with its earnings announcement, Comcast laid out its free VOD lineup for its upcoming launch in the Philadelphia market. Content will be supplied from A&E Network, Comedy Central, C-SPAN, The Golf Channel and Outdoor Life. Comcast is gearing up to close its pending merger
with AT&T Broadband. The companies expect to get the green
light to close the deal in the fourth quarter, which will integrate
AT&T Broadband's 13.1 million cable subscribers. Related stories:
Time Warner picks up Pace for Indy VOD launch
Time Warner Cable maintained its aggressive stance on video-on-demand by launching the service to digital customers in Indianapolis last week. Pace Micro Technology added that the MSO is “rapidly” deploying the vendor’s 500-model digital boxes in the market to advanced analog customers who opt for the digital tier but aren’t taking other set-top-enabled digital applications such as high-definition television and digital video recording. Scientific-Atlanta, whose base digital set-tops also populate Time Warner’s Indianapolis digital network, is filling that need with models such as its Explorer 3100 HD and DVR-capable Explorer 8000. Time Warner Cable also buys digital set-tops from Pioneer Electronics. Pace, the latest vendor to benefit from Time Warner Cable’s multiple set-top vendor strategy, has been shipping boxes to the MSO since November 2001. Since then, Time Warner Cable has deployed Pace set-tops in several markets, including Binghampton, N.Y., Memphis, Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wis.; San Antonio, Texas; and Rochester, NY, among others.
DragonWave breathes fire into bridge network Wireless broadband network supplier DragonWave Inc. has inked a deal to link communications between three bridges that link New York and Ontario. Although financial terms were not disclosed, DragonWave will work with integrated network services provider Transwave Communications Systems Inc. to support voice and data communications between the three bridges the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission operates. The DragonWave wireless system supports toll transactions, lane-closure alerts and standard business applications. In 2003, the network will support video-over-IP security traffic. "The network is our heartbeat, so reliability and performance are of utmost importance," said Michael O'Reily, head of MIS-IT for the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, in a prepared statement. "The DragonWave solution has given us given us a giant, dependable pipe that can be cost-effectively expanded as our capacity needs grow." The broadband communications network will support the bridges, which carry an estimated 9 million vehicle passengers a year. Related story:
Cable nets try free VOD with In Demand
Comedy Central and BBC America have agreed to offer some of their programming for free in the VOD platform to cable subscribers hooked up to digital boxes. The two networks engineered the precedent-setting deal with inDemand --- the dominant distributor of pay-per-view programming in the U.S. --- as a way to lure subscribers into sampling the benefits of VOD, enticing them to pay extra fees for the VOD bellwethers: recent-vintage hit theatrical movies, at $3.95 a pop. "Free content will allow consumers to test-drive video on demand and get comfortable with it," said Dan York, senior VP of programming for in Demand. York is convinced that movies on demand could put a real financial dent in the video stores. Not only would the rental fee be slightly cheaper than that of many videostores, but VOD would allow the viewer to pause, rewind or fast-forward a movie or TV show in real time, just like a pre-recorded cassette or DVD. And there'd be no hauling of cassettes back to Blockbuster and no ponying up of extra fees for missing the rental deadline. InDemand has VOD contracts with other providers of cable programming such as Court TV, ESPN, Fox News, Hallmark Entertainment, Sesame Workshop and Turner Entertainment. But subscribers have to pay between $1 and $2 every time they call up one of the programs offered by these providers. What Comedy Central and BBC America get out of furnishing freebies is extra attention to their regularly scheduled programming, which could get improved ratings from the VOD cross-promotion. Among the shows BBC will shoehorn into free VOD are the sitcoms "Absolutely Fabulous" and "Keeping Up Appearances" and the style programs "Changing Rooms" (the model for TLC's "Trading Spaces") and "Ground Force." Comedy Central will be a little stingier with free VOD, holding back complete episodes of its successful series "South Park," "Primetime Glick" and "Crank Yankers" and instead presenting only snippets, the equivalent of trailers for theatrical movies. Free VOD fare from Comedy Central will include such lower-rated series as "Let's Bowl," "Beat the Geeks" and "Strangers with Candy." Right now, only about 3 million cable subscribers have access to VOD, but In Demand, citing Kagan World Media figures, projects that figure to reach 8.8 million by December 2003. Related stories:
• Twin Valley taps Minerva, AFC Kansas-based Twin Valley Telephone has selected Minerva Networks Inc. to deliver advanced video entertainment services over DSL to its customers. To ensure that its network supports additional bandwidth requirements, Twin Valley Telephone has deployed Advanced Fibre Communications Inc.'s edge switching technology, including the newly released Telliant 5000 multiservice switch. • Level 3 expands Cox relationship Cox Communications Inc. has tapped Level 3 Communications Inc. to supply IP broadband service. Specifically, Cox is purchasing Level 3's Packet MPLS Private Network service to securely and reliably exchange traffic with service providers over Level 3's IP network. The Packet MPLS Private Networks is an MPLS-based data transport service that offers Ethernet, ATM and Frame Relay access into managed wide area network. Level 3 already supplies Cox with Internet access, colocation, private line and metropolitan dark fiber services. • Kagan to keynote SCTE conference Media analyst Paul Kagan has been named to keynote the SCTE's 2003 Conference on Emerging Technologies. The conference will be held Jan. 14-16 at the Fountainbleau Hilton Resort in Miami.
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