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

To: John Rieman who wrote (37789)	12/15/1998 10:46:00 AM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Big Wins In Cash-Strapped Emerging Markets (Star TV is Asia's most watched satellite service, and it uses Zenith/Cube boxes)......... sumnet.com Data communications less impacted in Asia, Latin America countries From the Systems pages of Electronic News: December 7, 1998 Issue By Carolyn Whelan Glenview, Ill.--The cloud seems to be lifting over Asia. And certain parts of Latin America, too, at least in the data communications space. Around the world, and even in areas hit hard by the Asian flu, OEMs and service providers are announcing big wins in anything having to do with the high-speed transmission of data and video. And it's not just in telecommunications. It's also spilling over into television and other areas. Take the last few weeks. On November 20, Zenith disclosed its plans to supply digital set-top boxes for Asia's most watched satellite service: "Star TV." That same day Eicon Technology, which makes remote access products for PCs, announced new partnerships with telecommunications companies in Shanghai and Beijing to help grow ISDN buy-in in China. Eicon will be thus positioned to supply ISDN terminal equipment to telcos there. On November 30, BellSouth and Groupa Safra said they had increased their stakes in BCP and BCP-NE, "rapidly growing" cellular operators in Sao Paolo and Northeastern Brazil. Together, the two companies now own 44.5 percent of BCP. And last Thursday, Tellabs announced that it had supplied infrastructure equipment and technology to MetroRED Argentina, which currently offers data and video transmission services in Argentina. STAR TV is a subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp (otherwise known as Fox). Right now STAR reaches some 300 million pairs of eyes across Asia, India and the Middle East. And as many countries in Asia, including Japan, have already gone digital (at least partially), while others, like Singapore have installed a nationwide network for two-way cable access, many features and functions that U.S. consumers are eagerly awaiting are already available to them. So, once regional economies begin to take a turn, large-scale buy-in is possible. Zenith's boxes start shipping in early 1999. The set-tops STAR TV is deploying support direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) systems. They can also handle alternative transmission methods like digital cable, terrestrial and MMDS. "As one of the largest and fastest growing digital programming services in Asia, STAR TV represents significant new opportunities for Zenith's World Box," said Charles J. Sindelar, vice president of Zenith Network Systems. Zenith's announcement trails similar agreements it made in Latin America with satellite companies like the SKY Latin America satellite ventures in Mexico and Brazil, and for SKY Network Television New Zealand. As for the Eicon deal, the Beiijing and Shanghai Telecoms companies are looking to the company to help accelerate the transition to new network capabilities within China, and to "increase business activities" there. As part of its agreement with the telcos, which entails training and gear, in collaboration with the telecommunications agencies, Eicon is to train trainers, marketing and management staff on ISDN technology. It will also supply the required ISDN remote access equipment to the Beijing and Shanghai Telecom training centers. For BellSouth, increasing its stake in BCP means that it has a longer reach into the total population of 44 million people that BCP currently serves. BCP is an early but highly successful operator in the Brazilian digital cellular space. The company, which has licenses in highly-populated Sao Paolo and six states in Northern Brazil, has clocked more than 4 million subscribers since it hit the digital TDMA switch this May. "We have made Brazil a key component of our international growth strategy, and BCP's Performance has already exceeded our most optimistic expectations," noted Charles C. Miller, president of BellSouth International. MetroRED Argentina has invested over $100 million in the construction of the largest fiber optic network in Latin America, with an 85-kilometer network in Buenos Aires alone. Tellab's MartisDXX managed access and transport network product was used in MetroRED's network for low- and medium-capacity links. The company plans to lay a similar network in Brazil next year.