Perhaps this is why:
LOUISVILLE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1999--Cable
Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs(R)) has doubled the number
of suppliers whose modems have been certified for retail sale by
certifying five companies today.
The newly certified companies are Askey Computer Corp., Cisco
Systems, Philips Electronics, Samsung Information Systems of America,
and Sony Corp.
There now are 10 modem suppliers whose products have been
certified for retail sale. Certification status has been earned
previously by Toshiba, Thomson Consumer Electronics, 3Com, General
Instrument and Arris Interactive. In addition, CableLabs has qualified
Cisco Systems' CMTS (headend equipment) for its compliance with the
CableLabs specification.
"This large increase in the number of suppliers gaining
certification status is terrific evidence that the cable industry's
retail-oriented process works well. It is producing a large number of
certified companies from an international base of suppliers, all of
whom are eager to serve the consumer and cable operators," said
CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green. "The cable modem
certification program is serving our industry and its customers well."
Said Rouzbeh Yassini, executive consultant to CableLabs and the
head of the modem effort: "The cable modem initiative that started
3-1/2 years ago has created the fastest ever standard product
deployment involving multiple silicon providers, multiple
manufacturers and multiple industries, including consumer electronics,
computer, cable and software. This industry achievement is considered
a cornerstone of the Information Age revolution via broadband pipe,"
Yassini added.
The retail-certified modems are identifiable by a "CableLabs(R)
Certified(TM)" seal. This seal will inform consumers and cable
operators that a modem complies with the CableLabs' cable modem
specification. It also states that it will communicate (interoperate)
with qualified cable system headends, which soon will be deployed in a
substantial number of systems worldwide.
There currently are nearly 60 different deployments by cable
operators on their broadband networks using cable modem products from
the more than one dozen companies seeking CableLabs Certified status
for the modems. The cable industry has achieved retail certification
in its data modem program after beginning with a clean slate about
3-1/2 years ago. A Certification Review Committee comprised of
representatives of CableLabs member companies bestows certification
status on suppliers.
Cable modems are used to provide high-speed Internet and data
access over cable's broadband networks. Cable modems are always
connected and unlike telephone industry modems, do not require
re-dialing to a service provider. In addition, consumers do not tie up
their telephone line for Internet surfing when using a cable modem to
access the Internet because the connection is via two-way cable. The
certified cable modems can coexist in cable systems with existing,
proprietary cable modems.
Manufacturers who receive CableLabs certification for their
high-speed cable modems have successfully completed an extensive
series of interoperability tests supported by CableLabs membership.
Modems were tested against headend equipment supplied by four
different manufacturers. Qualification evaluation of headend equipment
(CMTS) is ongoing.
As part of the certification test process, suppliers were asked
to work in CableLabs facilities in pre-market, pre-competitive testing
and evaluation in order to prove their compliance with the
industry-supported program and technology. As part of the
certification process, suppliers do self-testing of their products at
their own facilities prior to submission to CableLabs.
CableLabs certification focuses on how well suppliers' cable
modem and headend equipment adheres to the defined interface
specifications. The existing DOCSIS cable modem architecture is
enriched with high-speed data capability of up to 38 million bits per
second throughput per standard cable channel, with the flexibility of
enabling each broadband service provider to customize multiple service
tiers. In addition to the unprecedented speed, cable modems also offer
ease of installation, robust reliability, and data encryption of all
information conveyed by the certified modems.
CableLabs has managed the interoperable cable modem process,
previously known as Data over Cable Service Interface Specification
(DOCSIS) for the past 3-1/2 years. In that time, the effort has
achieved cable and vendor consensus on a series of definitions of key
interconnection points in a cable data distribution network. It also
has achieved North American (by the Society of Cable
Telecommunications Engineers) and international (by the International
Telecommunications Union) standardization using key elements of
DOCSIS.
CableLabs is a research and development consortium of cable
television system operators representing the continents of North
America and South America. CableLabs plans and funds research and
development projects that will help cable companies take advantage of
future opportunities and meet future challenges in provision of
television, data, and Internet services to consumers.
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. CableLabs
maintains web sites at cablelabs.com;
cablemodem.com; cablenet.org;
opencable.com; and packetcable.com.
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