Louisville, CO, July 28, 1994—Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs®) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) which could result in cable companies buying more than $2 billion worth of telephone hardware and software. This equipment would enable cable operators to provide telephone service to residential and business customers over cable television hybrid fiber/coax networks.

The companies actively participating with CableLabs in this RFP are Comcast Corp., Continental Cablevision, Inc.; Cox Cable Communications, Inc.; Tele-Communications Inc., Time Warner Holdings, Inc.; and Viacom International, Inc.

The deadline for responses to the RFP is September 23. CableLabs plans to hold a news conference August 9, at which top executives of participating cable companies will be available to discuss the strategic and business aspects of the RFP. A bidders' conference is scheduled to be held in Denver on August 19.

Of critical importance to CableLabs is that the RFP respondents provide for interoperability for the switching, transport and network termination elements of the cable hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) broadband architecture.

CableLabs will not purchase equipment under the RFP. CableLabs intends to evaluate the RFP responses for objective compliance with the RFP in conjunction with participating members. CableLabs will conduct objective testing of the equipment, and will test and evaluate the interoperability of this equipment with the established telecommunications environment. The results of those tests will be made available to all of CableLabs' members.

CableLabs is a research and development consortium of cable television system operators representing more than 85% of the cable subscribers in the United States, 70% of the subscribers in Canada, and 5-10% of cable subscribers in Mexico. CableLabs plans and funds research and development projects that will help cable companies take advantage of future opportunities and meet future challenges in the television industry. It also transfers relevant technologies to member companies and to the industry. In addition, CableLabs acts as a clearinghouse to provide information on current and prospective technological developments that are of interest to the cable industry.

Editorial Advisory
Dr. John C. Malone, president and CEO of Tele-Communications, Inc., and Brian Roberts, president of Comcast Corp., are among a panel of leading cable industry executives who will meet with the media August 9 at the Plaza Hotel, New York City. Each of the executives represents a company which is committed to buying telephone equipment under a CableLabs request for proposals for telecommunications delivery systems over cable networks. Included among these services is telephone service.

Who: CableLabs Chairman Dr. John C. Malone, TCI president-CEO; Comcast Corp. President Brian L. Roberts; Continental Cablevision Exec. V. P. William T. Schleyer; Time Warner Communications President Thomas Morrow; Dr. Richard R. Green, CableLabs president-CEO

What: Briefing on business objectives of each company with regard tosupplying telephone service over cable networks.

When: August 9, 1994, 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

Where: Terrace Room, The Plaza Hotel; 5th Avenue and 59th Street; New York, NY 10019—phone: 212-759-3000.

Why: To discuss the business elements of a cable company's entry into telephony services.

A telephone line has been established to allow for calling into the news conference. This number is 1-800-950-1447. To RSVP for the news conference, please contact Donna Watford, CableLabs, 303-661-9100.

About CableLabs: Cable Television Laboratories (www.cablelabs.com) was founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry. A non-profit research and development consortium, CableLabs delivers innovations that enable cable operators to be the providers of choice in their markets. Cable operators from around the world are members. CableLabs maintains additional web sites at www.cablenet.org and www.ebif.tv.

CableLabs® is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Other CableLabs marks are listed at http://www.cablelabs.com/certqual/trademarks. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.