[GTE Becomes First Telco To Offer Digital Video Service]
Greetings from Sunny Florida, Pat!
I just found this; I was not aware of Americast, or GTE Media Ventures. The strategy, of course is not unlike AT&T selling DirecTV, and I believe is the way all of the telecom companies want to go - offering transport and content. (Well, except for AOL, which just ditched the transport part...)
Steve
GTE Becomes First Telco To Offer Digital Video Service
By Louis Trager
GTE Corp. has become the first U.S. phone company to offer digital video service, tweaking its Americast offering in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area with more channels, a clearer picture, CD-quality music, and an on-screen program guide.
"Our competitive strategy has been simple," said Rick Wilson, president of GTE Media Ventures. "Provide more value to customers."
With the upgrade, which went live Monday, channel capacity jumped to 114 from 79, and more than 30 channels of commercial-free music were added.
GTE's 750-megahertz fiber-coaxial network passes more than 150,000 homes in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and parts of Pinellas County. At the current expansion pace, video service will be available to 400,000 homes by late 1998. The company's Ventura County, Calif., network will go digital this fall.
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