| July Deadline Looms for Western Show’s CableNET® ‘99 in Los Angeles |
| The deadline of July 20, 1999 for
responding to the request for proposal (RFP) for participation in the CableNET® ‘99
demonstration is fast approaching. This year’s exhibit will occupy nearly 10,000
square feet in the Los Angeles Convention Center. CableLabs® and the California Cable Television Association (CCTA) sponsor the integrated demonstration, which showcases the power of the cable industry’s hybrid fiber/coaxial (HFC) network, exclusively at the Western Cable Show in Los Angeles, California, December 15-17. Additionally, there is an extensive presence on the World Wide Web at www.cablenet.org. The site includes the CableNET® ‘99 RFP, information on past shows, links to CableLabs’ initiatives, cable organizations, operators, programmers, and vendors. CableNET® ‘99 seeks to build upon the cable industry’s aggressive efforts to obtain CableLabs® Certified™ retail high-speed, always-connected cable modems and interoperable advanced digital set-top boxes under the OpenCable™ initiative. It is expected that interoperable cable modem manufacturers, in addition to companies participating in PacketCable™, will participate as well. CableNET demonstrations maintain an educational approach fostered by CableLabs and the CCTA. CableNET® ‘99 will focus on services and applications, which cable operators may deliver to consumers via HFC telecommunications networks. The CableNET® ‘99 RFP specifically seeks services, applications, hardware and software that are current cable/computer industry technology, under market trial, or no more than one year away from deployment. Areas of interest include in-home networking, electronic commerce, interactive advertising, new methods of digitizing video, video-on-demand, interoperable advanced digital set-top boxes (such as those being produced under the OpenCable™ initiative), high-speed data services using DOCSIS modems, including on-line information services and multimedia services terminating on computers. Also of interest are Internet applications, either in software or hardware form, delivery of telephone service (either wireline or wireless), cable-commuting, voice-over-Internet-Protocol, and video-conferencing using Internet Protocol. Other areas that organizers will consider are new Internet appliances, interactive services that terminate on television monitors (including, but not limited to, near-video-on-demand) and video-on-demand, network management, advanced (digital) television, HDTV and electronic commerce and transactions. CCTA is the industry’s largest state cable television association with over 350 members serving over 6 million customers. Over 30,000 attended the Western Show last year. Additional information on the show may be accessed through the association’s Web-site at www.cct-assn.org. |