| CableLabs® Begins ‘Service Locator’ Project |
| CableLabs® will create an Internet-based electronic commerce site to assist computer makers
and retail partners in selling cable modems and other cable consumer equipment. This will
benefit consumers by assisting them in determining the availability of advanced services
in their neighborhoods when they purchase a new PC containing a cable modem. Known as the "service locator" for the cable industry, CableLabs will develop, with its member companies, a uniform, North American database of information (provided by cable operators) on the availability of high-speed Internet access services that operators are offering. A retailer querying the database will be linked to the regional cable operator’s database - that operator will control what information is shared with the retailer. "This activity, directed through CableLabs, gives us the nationwide geographical coverage that is attractive to computer manufacturers. It gives them a way to better serve customers and to gain a marketing advantage by serving the high demand that is out there for high-speed modems," said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s senior vice president of new business development, who is heading the project for CableLabs members. "We want to help the consumer make an informed retail purchase," said Carl Vogel, executive vice president and chief operating officer for field operations with AT&T Broadband & Internet Services. Vogel added that: "If a consumer wants to buy a computer made by company X, that company’s sales representative could use this database to advise the customer on the availability, to provide that customer with high-speed Internet access in his cable system." "CableLabs encourages all its members to provide their geographic service area data so that we may truly provide a database that crosses municipal boundaries," said CableLabs senior vice president of strategic planning, Dr. David Reed, who is the internal project leader. "This is the only site that will have broad support from the cable industry, which will ensure timely and accurate information," he added. Brad Dusto, senior vice president of engineering operations for Comcast Cable Communications, noted that the locator project could help consumers to hook-up to many other cable services (beyond high-speed Internet access services) offered through retail channels, such as digital video. "If a customer wanted to buy an OpenCable device through a retailer, for example, the retailer could check the service locator and, in three to five seconds, be able to make sure that the service is available in the customer’s neighborhood. It’s that simple," Dusto said. |