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To: JEFF K who wrote (35213)	8/15/1998 12:37:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

News Corp and OnDigital are fighting about the operating system for Settops in the UK. It doesn't effect the decode/transport parts of the boxes. BSkyB is using News Corp.'s system and OnDigital is using the Canal Plus system, it only effects the front-end of the box.

To: JEFF K who wrote (35213)	8/16/1998 1:06:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Settops in the UK........................................ inside-cable.co.uk 16th August 1998 SETTOP WAR DEFINES COMPETITION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BSkyB has withdrawn its threat of legal action against ONdigital over digital settop box standards. The move comes as BSkyB clearly believes it is taking pole position in the race to offer digital TV to UK subscribers. The dispute is about control and subscriber management systems, rather than the digital encoding of TV channels. There is now doubt about whether the two systems will be integrated, even though they may be technically compatible - meaning that any subscriber wanting both services would have to acquire two boxes, maintain two separate accounts, have multiple smart-cards and learn different ways of managing his viewing through different EPGs. Both digital terrestrial and digital satellite will have 'exclusive' channels but as the total quality programming stock is so small it will be likely that the battle for dominance will be fought over key sports and movie pay-per-view programming. Apart from the different programme channels available it will be the interactive services offered that will be the other main differentiator between the competing systems, although neither terrestrial or satellite are likely to have offerings which viewers regard as 'must have' for some time. Confusion resulting from this situation is a proposition cable operators quietly relish, as both terrestrial and satellite programming will be available via cable. When cable moves digital, which it can do as an evolutionary stage, its own uniqueness will be the impact and scale of its interactive offerings. The settop boxes ordered by Cable & Wireless Communications from Pace Micro Technology will incorporate a high-speed cable modem which conforms to the `open' MCNS standard. The standard 'competes' with the DVB/Davic standard being promoted in Europe. CWC says this choice will allow it to source boxes from suppliers in the global market and to provide customers with upgraded services as they become available without the need for a new box, `sidecar' or any other accessory. As well as supporting Internet access through the television, the settop box will also provide PC-users with high-speed access to the Internet via the cable modem and broadband network, rather than the traditional telephone network. CWC is planning that by using an advanced system from the launch of its full digital service in 1999, it will future-proof its customers and reduce the additional costs of developing and supplying new services.