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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BillyG who wrote (26700)	12/15/1997 3:53:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Worldgate a C-Cube/Divicom "partner"... TV Tests Could Help WorldGate Win 3.8 Million Customers Abroad By David Bank ÿ 12/15/97 The Asian Wall Street Journal Page 15 (Copyright (c) 1997, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) ÿ ANAHEIM, California -- WorldGate Communications Inc., a closely held startup that offers Internet access over cable-television systems, signed its first agreements to test and deploy its service outside North America. Hal Krisbergh, WorldGate's chief executive, said the company will test its service on cable systems in Singapore, the U.K., Venezuela, New Zealand and Austria. If the trials are successful, WorldGate will gain access to 3.8 million potential customers, he said. Mr. Krisbergh said WorldGate currently has 150,000 customers, each of whom pays about $5 a month for access through his or her TV set to the World Wide Web and electronic mail. WorldGate receives about one-third of the monthly subscription fee, while the cable operator retains two-thirds. WorldGate has become an important entrant in the race to bring the Internet to TV sets because its service doesn't require customers to purchase separate set - top boxes. For that reason, analysts consider it a potentially strong competitor to Microsoft Corp.'s WebTV device, a more sophisticated product that comes in two versions priced from $200 to $300. "There's a much bigger market for a lower-cost, lower-function product for the mass market," Mr. Krisbergh said in an interview at a cable industry trade show. Investors in WorldGate, based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, include the two major equipment suppliers to the cable industry, NextLevel Systems Inc. and Scientific-Atlanta Inc., as well as Motorola Inc. and Citicorp. Mr. Krisbergh said WorldGate is "thinking seriously" about an initial public offering, but said the timing of such an offering hasn't been determined. Mr. Krisbergh said WorldGate's agreement with Denver-based United International Holdings calls for the cable operator to deploy WorldGate's service in systems in New Zealand and Vienna. He said other agreements have been reached with Cablevision of Singapore, General Cable in the U.K. and SuperCable of Caracas. Earlier, WorldGate announced agreements with Charter Communications Inc., which has deployed the service in St. Louis and plans to expand to the Los Angeles area next year, and with Shaw Communications Inc., a Canadian cable operator.