Four or five years ago, when competitive pressures were leading many cable operators to consider offering telephony services over their networks, the process of upgrading cable networks to carry power for telephone services topped engineering discussions. Those conversations covered a range of issues, from the shift to 90 volts from 60 volts, to technician safety […]
Emerging Technologies
… part II Interactive services Another half-day session honed in on what it means, technically, to offer an integrated suite of services to customers, in what AT&T calls “the whole broadband approach.” Ralph Brown, chief architect of set-top systems for @Home Network, kicked off the session by noting that PC and TV application convergence will […]
Competitive Nightmares Taking Shape
Depending on which technology master you serve, telecommunications competition is either the dream you’ve always hoped for, or the nightmare that has you sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night. In the two years since telecommunications was overhauled via legislation, true competition has been largely nonexistent. But beneath the surface, companies are preparing […]
Modems, test gear, return path hot at Expo
What this year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo may have lacked in new whiz-bang announcements was more than made up by a buoyant, optimistic sense that the cable industry is preparing itself for entry into a long, competitive battle to provide consumers with a dazzling array of new services. Cable modem news again dominated this show, attended […]