Briefs
By Staff -- Multichannel News, 12/14/2003 7:00:00 PM
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Items:
Vonage to Use Motorola Gear Cablevision Eyes 4 New HD Nets INHD Adds IMAX Film Slate Rogers Pumps Data Speeds to 3 Megs ESPN Games Up With NTN's QB1 Forrester Thinks DSL Has Edge |
Vonage to Use Motorola Gear
Edison, N.J.—Motorola Broadband Communications Sector said voice over Internet protocol telephony provider Vonage Holdings Corp. will use the company's VT1000v voice terminal for voice-over-Internet protocol rollouts to consumers and small businesses.
Having recently secured a series of deals with small MSOs, Vonage is bearing down on 100,000 subscribers. The company said it's adding 2,500 lines per week.
The deal is exclusive to Motorola, and the voice terminals will work with either digital subscriber line or cable-modem connections. The terminal supports up to two telephone lines and two Ethernet ports, as well as three-way calling, caller ID, call forwarding and voice-mail messaging.
Cablevision Eyes 4 New HD Nets
New York—Cablevision Systems Corp. cable and communications president Tom Rutledge told analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston's Media and Telecommunications Conference the MSO will launch four new HDTV channels on Dec. 16.
The operator will add The Movie Channel, Cinemax, Starz and INHD.
Cablevision carries Home Box Office, Showtime, Madison Square Garden Network, Fox Sports New York, and the New York CBS, PBS and Fox stations, all at no charge. Rutledge said the Scientific-Atlanta Inc. HDTV set-top he's purchasing only costs $20 more than a typical digital set-top, which he said is now below $200.
INHD Adds IMAX Film Slate
New York —In Demand's INHD channel said it has signed a deal with K2 Communications for 20 70-millimeter films originally presented in IMAX Theaters. In Demand will transfer the content to 1080i widescreen HD.
The first two films, Ocean Oasis and Ring of Fire, are scheduled for January. Other titles include Adventures in Wild California, Tropical Rainforest, Ultimate G's, Beavers, Dolphins, Super Speedway, Africa: The Serengeti, The Living Sea, Discovers, To the Limit, Journey Into Amazing Caves, Magic of Flight, Speed, Amazon, Stormchasers, Antarctica, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild, Australia: Land Beyond Time, and Chronos.
Rogers Pumps Data Speeds to 3 Megs
Moncton, New Brunswick—Rogers Cable will increase the download speeds for its high-speed Internet service to 3 Megabits per second, mirroring most of its U.S. counterparts. Rogers had been delivering downstream speeds of 1.5 Mbps. Upload speeds have doubled from 192 Kilobits per second to 384 Kbps.
Roger said its Business Pro service will jump from 3 Mbps to 4 Mbps downstream and from 384 Kbps to 640 Kbps upstream.
"Our research clearly indicates that speed is the most important issue to customers," said Michael Lee, vice president, product development and product management at Rogers, in a statement.
ESPN Games Up With NTN's QB1
New York—ESPN Videogames will bring simulated game play graphics to the QB1 predict-the-play football game on NTN's Interactive TV Network. QB1 is played in real time with college and pro football games in 3,500 restaurants, sports bars and taverns across the country.
NTN's Buzztime Entertainment subsidiary provides games for the cable set-top platform.
Forrester Thinks DSL Has Edge
Cambridge, Mass.— For what it's worth, Forrester Research believes digital-subscriber-line service prices will give it significant market share going forward.
The company surveyed 6,000 homes and found today's broadband subscribers care more about price that speed.
"Mainstream consumers of broadband are more price sensitive, lower-income and less technology-optimistic than early adopters of broadband were," said Jed Kolko, principal analyst at Forrester, in a statement.
"Because the importance of piece will only become more pronounced over the next several years, DSL is poised to grab more consumers with price points of $30 per month versus cable's $40 to $50 per month."
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