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Technology Stocks : Concurrent Computer (CCUR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ENOTS who wrote (13560)	4/29/2000 10:52:00 AM
From: Starowl	Respond to of 21143

An article in Monday's (next) Investor's Business Daily titled "Players Emerge in Brewing Set-Top Derby" has some interesting parts to it. It is authored by Patrick Seitz. Note that the competition with satellite TV operators is spurring interactive service providers to press cable companies to move faster in digital deployment, with video on demand a key offering. Here are some excerpts: "Mergers and acquisitions are rocking the fledgling interactive television field, as rivals rush to fill gaps in their software offerings. PowerTV Inc., an independent unit of cable box maker Scientific-Atlanta Inc., is the most recent company to bolster its product line through acquisition. PowerTV bought Prasara Technologies, Inc. on April 12 to add electronic-commerce applications to its operating systems for set-top boxes. . . . "The flurry of activity comes as cable television operators prepare to shift from analog to digital services. Digital technology lets cable companies offer viewers advanced two-way services, such as Web browsing and online shopping plus better-quality pictures. "Cable companies face increasing competition from satellite TV operators, which already offer digital-quality programming and some interactive services. As cable operators make the jump, interactive TV firms could reap big rewards, analysts say. "About 70 million households will switch to digital cable over the next five to 10 years, says Jay Srivatsa, an analyst with researcher Dataquest Inc. in San Jose, Calif. Those households will need new set-top boxes and a new generation of software and services. 'It's going to be huge,' Srivatsa said. 'That's why you see new players jumping in every month.' "Cable companies realize they need to install digital services quickly or risk losing more business to satellite operators EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp. The two satellite TV firms are signing up more than 150,000 subscribers a month, Srivatsa says. "Cable firms are expected to place big orders for set-top boxes and interactive television services within six to eight months, he says. With well-rounded offerings, interactive TV firms hope to make compelling sales pitches to cable operators and set-top box makers, analysts say. By having a complete package of interactive services up front, cable companies could have new set-top boxes ready in three months, rather than six to eight months, Srivatsa says. "When cable operators such as Time Warner Inc. and AT&T Corp. start signing contracts for millions of set-top boxes, they will pick the interactive TV company that's in the best position to provide the features they want, analysts say. . . . "'What we now have by putting Prasara and PowerTV together is a very strong top-to-bottom solution of the operating system, the key middleware elements and the applications that are the most attractive in the near term, notably the combination of Web browsing functionality and video on demand,' said Steve Necessary, chief executive of PowerTV." . . . . . Starowl