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To: Hiram Walker who wrote (2026)	3/24/1998 5:06:00 PM
From: Eric Jacobson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4134

>>TCI sees 2-2.5 pct subscriber growth DENVER, March 24 (Reuters) - Tele-Communications Inc [Nasdaq:LBTYA - news]. President Leo Hindery Tuesday said the cable television provider expects to show at least 2 to 2.5 percent subscriber growth by the end of 1998. In its fourth quarter, Tele-Communications Inc., or TCI, added 155,000 customers to its cable systems, bringing its 1997 year end total to more than 14.43 million. Speaking at TCI's annual conference of financial analysts and investors, Hindery said TCI expects its subscriber rate -- the amount customers pay for cable service -- to be the lowest in the industry with average increases of only about 5 percent. He said 65 to 70 percent of the increases are often due to higher programming costs for the cable operator. TCI plans to spend $1.8 billion over the next three years on improving its bandwidth and upgrading its systems for two-way communication. It will spend $400 million in 1998 and $700 million each in 1999 and 2000, the company said.<< biz.yahoo.com $1.8 billion on upgrades over the next three years. Anybody know offhand how this compares to the last three years?

To: Hiram Walker who wrote (2026)	3/25/1998 3:30:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4134

Tim, Looking for a cause for the dip. Looks like the failure of the @Home, Road Runner thing could have caused a disappointment. Probably unrelated, but also found this: nStreams Ships Low Cost DVB-Compliant Media Server to Academia Sinica for Digital Cable NVOD Pilot Project SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 1998--nStreams Technologies, Inc. announced today that it is shipping a low cost, high performance DVB-compliant media server, DVBStreams, to Academia Sinica of China for digital cable NVOD pilot project. The DVB-compliant media server will be used in digital cable head-end providing scheduled program playback capability. It is used to replace a combination of real-time MPEG encoders and video tape players. The DVB-compliant media servers from nStreams are housed in standard 6RU industrial grade rack mount chassis. The digital single program MPEG transport streams are stored on nStreams' patent-pending RAID-X disk array and are multiplexed into one multiple program transport stream in real time. With off-line encoded digital MPEG contents stored in nStreams' digital media server, a much better video quality can be achieved at the same bit rate compared to real-time encoding contents directly from VCR. A play list can be easily generated and executed automatically without human intervention. According to Dr. Pang Ho, President & CEO of nStreams Technologies, Inc., ''We believe that the age for digital transmission of stored digital video content has arrived. Our high performance, low cost, highly reliable DVB-compliant media servers will help pushing the cable, satellite and MMDS industries into the next millennium with full digital capability. As proven by the lucrative pay-per-view services of existing digital satellite broadcasters offering 30 to 50 NVOD channels, NVOD services with digital transmission will be a definite plus for the existing cable operators with limited analog channel capacity. With our low cost structure, deployment of head-end equipment should be a painless one. ''Being selected by Academia Sinica of China for its digital cable NVOD pilot project says something about nStreams. Academia Sinica is the official technology development and importation organization. We are very happy to be associated with being a high performance and extremely reliable digital content delivery system manufacturer.'' About nStreams Technologies, Inc. nStreams Technologies, Inc. is a technology company specializing in digital media servers. Its digital media server products have been deployed in hotels worldwide providing Movie On Demand and Near Video On Demand services. The use of UNIX operating system with an open architecture, and PC components enables it to take full advantage of the massive PC manufacturing and distribution capability of its parent companies: SYNNEX and MiTAC, world leading PC distributors and manufacturers. The relationship with SYNNEX Information Technologies, Inc. and MiTAC, Inc. enables nStreams to offer a very affordable media server system with superior performance and reliability. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact: nStreams Technologies, Inc. C.J. Cheng, 408/988-8188 ext. 127 Email: cjc@nstreams.com Web: nstreams.com

To: Hiram Walker who wrote (2026)	3/27/1998 12:11:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 4134

Did you see this story? I highlighted some points: -CWC's restructuring, expected to be unveiled next Thursday, was aimed at focusing its resources on its network and its launch of digital cable TV services later this year. -The revamp came amid a new wave of mergers in the industry as loss-making cable operators struggled to get a return on their large start-up investments. -CWC, itself the product of a four-way merger, previously announced plans to invest some 1.0 billion pounds in its business annually for the next three years in a bid to keep its number-one position in the industry. FOCUS-UK cable firm CWC to revamp operations By Jeff Daeschner LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest cable company, Cable and Wireless Communications Plc (CWC), on Friday denied that it would cut 2,000 jobs as part of a sweeping restructuring plan. ''We are going to do a restructuring, but there aren't 2,000 jobs on the line,'' a CWC spokeswoman said, denying a report in The Independent newspaper that CWC might cut its workforce by as much as 17 percent. The company also denied a separate report that indicated Bell Canada (BI.TO - news) planned to sell its 14 percent stake in CWC as part of CWC's restructuring. The Evening Standard said a Canadian company was thought to be planning to sell its 14 percent CWC stake, worth more than 900 million pounds ($1.5 billion), in a share placing with institutional investors. In response, CWC denied that Bell Canada was planning an exit from the firm, which is 53-percent-owned by Cable and Wireless Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CW.L), while U.S. telecom Bell Atlantic Corp (BEL - news) also owns 18 percent. ''There's no truth in that. It's a rumour and there's no truth in it,'' the spokeswoman said. CWC's shares -- which have soared since last year's flotation -- fell 14 pence to 412.5 by 1230 GMT but remained near their year high of 432. CWC declined to estimate the number of job cuts planned for the company's 12,000-strong workforce, arguing that the revamp might actually lead to a net increase in staff. ''It would be very hard to give a figure at the moment, and in fact, at the end of it, we could come out jobs positive,'' the spokeswoman said, adding that prior to the restructuring review, CWC had some 3,000 job vacancies in the group. CWC's restructuring, expected to be unveiled next Thursday, was aimed at focusing its resources on its network and its launch of digital cable TV services later this year. ''It's not a people-cutting exercise at all. We're carrying on investing in the company (while) reshaping it,'' the spokeswoman said. The revamp came amid a new wave of mergers in the industry as loss-making cable operators struggled to get a return on their large start-up investments. CWC, itself the product of a four-way merger, previously announced plans to invest some 1.0 billion pounds in its business annually for the next three years in a bid to keep its number-one position in the industry. With a current base of some six million potential customers, CWC plans to be the first cable company to offer digital TV channels, starting this autumn. The company also launched a 400 million pound network upgrade earlier this year to try to attain its goal of becoming Britain's biggest data communications provider. Currently, it trails British Telecommunications Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BT.L) and Racal Electronics Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: RCAL.L). ($ equals 0.593 British Pounds)