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To: vinod Khurana who wrote (27356)	2/2/1999 6:27:00 PM
From: vinod Khurana	Respond to of 45548

Bell Atlantic, IBM To Equip Fully Networked Homes NEW YORK (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) and Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL - news) Tuesday said they will team up to equip homes for full networking, leading consumers closer to having ''smart homes'' that can link all digital devices. This year the companies will wire as many as 15,000 new houses in Bell Atlantic's Maine-to-Virginia service region with the ability to link computers with each other and with peripheral devices such as VCRs, and to share Internet connections across multiple phone lines. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM, the world's biggest computer maker, will supply the research and technology to Bell Atlantic's construction unit, which wires homes, including a hub that will join various wiring types. Customers will receive a combination of coaxial cable and various telephone wires depending on their needs, Bell Atlantic spokesman Mark Marchand told Reuters. IBM is also developing a series of computer applications that will run on the new infrastructure, including a home management application. IBM will work with New York-based Bell Atlantic on market development, sales and technical support. Marchand declined to disclose the financial terms of the agreements. Besides the more typical applications of networks, such as home business uses, communications and entertainment, customers will have the potential to turn their home lights on of off from outside the home, monitor a sleeping baby or a backyard with a video camera, or use one VCR for any video monitor in the house. Each room in a house will most likely be able to connect to the network, Marchand said. Prices will start at $1,000 for adding the infrastructure to new homes, Marchand said, but will go up as capability is added, depending on the customer's preference. Later in 1999 the companies plan to offer retrofitting of existing homes with the new service.