More info on GTE bandwidth solutions:
Remember I provided info that GTE holds 26 percent of the merged company involved in the Telus Video-on-demand trial in Edmonton, Canada? See posts #3747, 3748.
I didn't realize that GTE is attempting to merge with Bell Atlantic:
gte.com
News on ADSL trials: Nation's largest deployment of asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service:
gte.com
Here's a link to a press release concerning Bell Atlantic's roll-out of a digital video service in Dover Township, New Jersey which began a few years ago.
ba.com
I recalled an article in the newspaper a few weeks ago that said BA planned on abandoning the service, but couldn't find a press release for it, so I contacted a person at Bell Atlantic, and here's his reply:
"On 9/14 Bell Atlantic announced plans to begin marketing DirecTV/USSB satellite TV service to customers in New Jersey. The reporter from the Asbury Park Press asked what that meant for Bell Atlantic video customers in Dover Township.
We said we would be notifying them that we would be discontinuing video service over the phone lines in that market and would be offering them a special deal to switch over instead to DirecTV/USSB.
The fiber optic platform in DoverTownship has been "manufacturer discontinued." No new software to enhance its capabilities is being developed and technical support is being phased out.
We didn't issue a news release, but a number of newspapers reported on our plans back in September.
By the way, Bell Atlantic bought the programming operation and headend from FutureVision in November 1996. For what's worth, FutureVision hasn't been associated with the project for two years."
They spent big money for this trial - they rewired the whole area (underground services). The decision to give up on it was kept quiet as compared to the roll-out. I think they initially offered lower prices than the local cable provider, Adelphia, but had to raise prices eventually to offset the costs - once this happened, they lost a lot of people to Adelphia. However, plans to abandon the service perhaps were influenced by the potential merger with GTE, as well as need to cut losing operations. If the merger goes through, GTE will be clearly at the forefront in getting wide-bandwidth to consumers and businesses. And Bell Atlantic's technical knowledge and experience, combined with GTE's backbone, will surely create some interesting services.
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