To Provide SURFboard(TM) Telco-Return Cable Modems;
Comcast first to trial @Home with SURFboard Telco-Return Cable Modems
NEW YORK, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move that will enable widespread availability of high-speed data services over cable TV networks, General Instrument Corporation (NYSE: GIC) announced today that its NextLevel Satellite Data Networks Group has been selected as preferred vendor by @Home Network, a pioneering provider of high-speed, interactive services via the cable infrastructure. NextLevel will provide its SURFboard(TM) telco-return cable modems and associated network to cable operators for delivery of @Home's Internet and multimedia service over the cable TV system to the personal computers (PCs) of cable subscribers.
Comcast Cable Communications will be the first cable operator to use SURFboard cable modems to provide the @Home service to subscribers. Comcast has signed a letter of intent under which General Instrument will provide an initial 5,000 SURFboard cable modems, and potentially up to 50,000.
General Instrument's SURFboard cable modem network provides high-speed data services to subscribers' PCs over a standard 6 MHz cable TV channel at shared transport rates of up to 27 Mbps. The return path is enabled via a telephone connection. This technology approach enables the SURFboard cable modems to be deployed in virtually any cable TV system today, without a network upgrade to two-way over cable. According to Lisa Pelgrim, Senior Analyst at Dataquest, today roughly 90% of the cable infrastructure that reaches 65 million subscribers in the U.S. is not capable of delivering two- way data communications.
@Home Network uses cable modems and its own network architecture to deliver highspeed Internet services. By connecting cable directly to subscribers' PCs, the @Home service enables users to download information at speeds more than 100 times faster than conventional modems. By eliminating time wasted waiting for downloads, @Home's service offers users an enhanced, more efficient Internet experience. For example, a file that takes 9 minutes to download over a 28.8 modem connection would take 2 minutes on ISDN, compared to 2 seconds on the @Home Network at optimum speed.
"Telco-return cable systems allow our partners to accelerate deployment of high-speed data services, enabling them to extend market reach, drive penetration and meet consumer demand as they upgrade their cable plants," said Milo Medin, Vice President, Networks of @Home Network. "Along with meeting our core network requirements, SURFboard cable modems provide our partners with a cost-effective solution in rolling out telco-return cable services."
Comcast, the nation's fourth largest cable operator, will be the first to deploy the SURFboard cable modems with the @Home service. The cable TV operator, along with @Home, will move forward with a trial of the SURFboard cable modems. A launch of commercial high-speed data service is slated for later this year in Philadelphia.
"We want to use SURFboard cable modems to drive early acceptance of high- speed cable-based Internet services," said Bradley P. Dusto, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. "@Home is really catching on in our two-way markets, and using SURFboard cable modems to bring downstream speed to our non-two-way areas will allow us to expand our service footprint significantly."
@Home launched its service on September 5, 1996 with two-way over cable modems in Fremont, California. Through its partnerships with TC1, Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications, Intermedia Partners and Marcus Cable, the service has distribution access to more than 40 million U.S. households. Home will use the SURFboard telephone return cable modems to complement its current two-way cable modem deployments in service areas that have not been yet been upgraded.
"@Home and Comcast's selection of the SURFboard cable modem is an important endorsement of the technology and the viability of data services over cable systems," said Geoffrey S. Roman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Telecom Systems of GI's NextLevel Satellite Data Networks Group. "Right now we have customers with successful commercial deployments of data services using cable-forward SURFboard cable modems. The connection with Home will enable a rapid, nationwide roll-out of cable modem-based data services."
GI's SURFboard telco-return cable modems and associated network were first deployed in August 1996. The first generation SURFboard cable modem, model SB1OOO, is an internal ISA card that fits into the subscriber's PC. Available now, it offers minimal customer entry cost. GI has also announced an external version, model SB1 100, that will use an Ethernet connection to the user's PC. The SE31 100 supports laptops, Macintosh(R) and multiuser environments. It will be available in May 1997. Comcast plans to use both the internal and external versions of the cable modem.
The SURFboard network is the first commercially deployed 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) data network. QAM is a digital modulation scheme that enables data compression to enhance system capacity up to 300%. The SURFboard network also features digital MPEG-2 transport, the standard for state-of-the-art digital television delivery systems, and standard Internet Protocol (IP). GI offers complete support, training, and systems integration services for its SURFboard network customers.
@Home Network distributes high-speed interactive services to residences and businesses using the cable industry's hybrid-fiber coaxial infrastructure and its own network architecture. The cable connection provides users significant increases in speed over conventional Internet access, and @Home's network allows for unique content offerings that go beyond current Web experiences. @Home Network and its cable partners are marketing the high- speed Internet access in Arlington Heights, Illinois; Fremont, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Hartford, Connecticut; Sarasota, Florida; Orange County, California; and Union County, New Jersey.
Based in Mountain View, California, @Home Network was formed in 1995. Investors in the company include Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications, and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. Home Network's home page on the World Wide Web is http://www.home.net.
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is principally engaged in the development, management and operation of wired telecommunications including cable television and telephone services; wireless telecommunications including cellular, personal communications services and direct to home satellite television; and content through principal ownership and management of QVC, the world's premier electronic retailer, through majority ownership of Comcast- Spectator and a controlling interest in E! Entertainment, and through other programming investments. The Company's consolidated and affiliated operations serve more than ten million customers worldwide.
Comcast's Class A and Class A Special Common Stock are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively.
Upon completion this summer of its recently announced strategic restructuring, General Instrument Corporation will divide into three separate public companies that are leaders in distinct global growth markets. NextLevel Systems, Inc., comprised of the Broadband Networks Group, based in Hatboro, PA, the Satellite Data Networks Group, based in San Diego, CA, and GI's NextLevel Communications subsidiary, based in Rohnert Park, CA will emerge as a leading worldwide supplier of systems and components for high- performance networks delivering video, voice and Internet/data services. CommScope, Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of coaxial cable and a leading supplier of high-performance electronic cables. General Semiconductor, Inc. (currently Power Semiconductor) is a world leader in the sale of discrete semiconductors. Visit General Instrument's Web site at http://www.gi.com
SOURCE General Instruments Corporation
-0- 04/07/97
/NOTE TO EDITORS: @Home Network, @Home and the @ logo are trademarks of Home Network and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other brands and products are trademarks of their respective companies. Macintosh(R) is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc./
/CONTACT: Brigitte Engel, SURFboard(TM) networks, 619-535-2599, brigitte@surfboard.com; Dick Badler, VP, Corp. Communications, 773-695-1030, dbadler@gi.com; Matt Wolfrom, Manager, Corporate Public Relations, @Home, 415-569-5195, mwolfrom@home.net; or Joe Waz, Vice President, External Communications, Comcast Communications, 215-981-7607/
(GIC CMCSA)
CO: General Instrument Corporation; NextLevel Systems, Inc.; Satellite Data
Network Group; Comcast Corporation; @Home Network. ST: Pennsylvania, California IN: MLM CPR SU:
RM -- NYM050 -- 8081 04/07/97 08:07 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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