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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (6805)	4/11/2000 3:32:00 PM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Re: Analog to Digital TV- MSO vs Broadcasters vs TV Makers "The U.S. television industry faces legal and technical obstacles in the switch to digital signals, causing some station owners to question the viability of a 2002 deadline to get on the air....So far, only 122 of 1,600 stations broadcast digital signals." Thread- Just a little follow-up to my ADCT post. It's a lot more complicated than I thought. It involves a three-way brawl, each with significant interest in the outcome. Apparently there is a FCC mandated deadline and it's pretty obvious the deadline will have to be altered. But still, the FCC appears to be the biggest driver in the upgrade to digital TV. Also notice the reference to bandwidth. Once the TV broadcast signal is digitized, then that allows the cable operator to offer up more Interactive data services. Something I would think they would be very interested in. Sounds like the FCC is going to have to make some tough decisions soon about digital TV. Something I'm going to attempt to keep a closer eye on since it has a direct effect on Last Mile infrastructure. -MikeM(From Florida) PS Here's another story on this same subject: quote.bloomberg.com ******************* TV Stations Link Digital Success With Cable Access By Heather Fleming Phillips Las Vegas, April 11-- The U.S. television industry faces legal and technical obstacles in the switch to digital signals, causing some station owners to question the viability of a 2002 deadline to get on the air. TV stations have invested millions of dollars in cameras, antennas and other equipment to produce and transmit digital signals after a half-century of analog broadcasts. So far, only 122 of 1,600 stations broadcast digital signals. By using digital technology, TV stations convert images into computer files that allow for crystal-clear pictures compared with today's analog signals. A single digital TV channel takes up less radio spectrum than analog, giving stations a chance to transmit other interactive services that can be sold to viewers.** Stations fear that once signals are available, few viewers will see them since cable TV systems serving about 70 percent of all households are refusing to carry the channels. Stations want U.S. regulators to force cable to carry the digital signals. ``Without cable 'must carry,' the digital transition just doesn't happen,' said Paul Karpowicz, vice president of LIN Television Corp., at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. "There's going to be a train wreck this fall when smaller stations say it doesn't make economic sense for me to move forward when I don't know if I can reach an audience," National Association of Broadcasters President Edward O. Fritts told reporters during the conference. Regulation Deferred Yet, the Federal Communications Commission doesn't appear poised to act soon. Chairman William Kennard said in a speech at the convention that he wants broadcasters' digital TV, or DTV, business plans to take shape before any regulation is imposed. "I get very, very frustrated when people come to me and they say the success of digital television lies in government developing the business, by micromanaging the transition,' Kennard said. "Delay is not an option."' Another problem is that only 24,631 of 143,218 digital sets sold through the end of last year can receive digital pictures over the air. And sets aren't selling because of the high price -- about $2,500 -- and lack of digital programming on the air. Even stations transmitting digital signals offer few programs in the high-definition format that provide the sharpest and clearest picture, which set manufacturers say will drive sales. Stations are reluctant to invest in digital programming if the audience is small, and consumers don't want to buy sets if few programs are available to watch. Digital-Cable Feud "We can expect receivers to remain a small percentage of overall DTV sales until consumers have access to regular, high-quality, DTV programming," said Todd Thibodeaux, vice president of market research for the Consumer Electronics Association. Stations want the FCC to set standards on digital TV sets, so that cable subscribers will see a signal equal in quality to the over-the-air transmission. ``We believe the FCC is thwarting the transition to digital instead of assisting it' by failing to order cable to carry digital signals and setting standards, Fritts said. ``We can not run a robust digital TV transition by market forces alone,' said Lynn Claudy, senior vice president of science and technology at the National Association of Broadcasters. Set makers also say a dispute over technical standards to transmit digital TV signals threatens to halt or significantly slow the transition. The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that if efforts to change the current standard succeed, only about 15 percent of consumers will buy sets by 2006, the government's target date for completing the transition.

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (6805)	8/1/2000 10:22:56 AM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 12823

Re: Digital TV- ADC Communications UHF DTV Transmitter Thread- I linked this to a previous PR out of Last Mile specialist, ADCT's foray into broadcast TV. Specifically digital TV. In this case, I believe SDTV and/or HDTV. You see the FCC has given away the UHF frequencies to the NAB in order to promote digital broadcasting so I'm assuming this product is for real digital TV content delivery. But I don't get it? How many TV households in the USA do not have either cable TV or DBS? And IF they don't, are these the types of subs that would pay $5K for a digital conversion box in order to receive true digital TV over a UHF frequency? Plus fork over the money it takes to buy a special antenna that is tuned directly to their local NAB affiliate broadcasting true SDTV via ADCT's type equipment? Can anyone explain why this type of PR has any meaning? This is still relatively new to me, and the UHF broadcast transmitter, puzzles me. Where is the USA market for this product? -MikeM(From Florida) ************************** ADC's Visionary DT Digital Television Transmitter Chosen ``Best in Show'' at BroadcastAsia 2000 MINNEAPOLIS August 1, 2000--ADC, a leading global supplier of network equipment, software and integration services for broadband multiservice networks, today announced that its Visionary(TM) DT digital television transmitter was chosen as the best transmitter at BroadcastAsia 2000. Asia Pacific Broadcasting conducted the first Readers' Choice Awards at BroadcastAsia 2000 to obtain a list of the best broadcast systems at the show. Over 800 readers voted for what they believed to be the best products and systems in various broadcast related categories. In the ``Best Transmitter'' category, ADC's Visionary DT came out on top. The Visionary DT is a high power digital UHF television transmitter which uses inductive output tube (IOT) amplifiers to provide up to 180 kilowatts average digital output power. Features include an ADC manufactured exciter with linear and non-linear adaptive digital equalization, super-linear feed-forward driver amplifiers and a feature rich, user friendly graphical user interface for system monitoring and control. ``The Visionary Series products are already becoming the transmitters of choice in the U.S. marketplace**,'' according to Rich Schwartz, marketing manager for ADC's Broadcast Systems Division. ``This award demonstrates the growing international acceptance of ADC's very innovative line of products.'' ADC is a leading manufacturer of UHF and VHF television transmitters and digital signal management and connectivity products. The extensive product line features low, medium and high power transmitters available with solid-state or tube amplifiers, complete UHF and VHF exciter retrofits, Super Wideband(TM) digital routers, true 75-ohm patch bays and BNC connectors, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) multimedia transport and fiber STLs.