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Technology Stocks : Harmonic Lightwaves (HLIT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kathy Riley who wrote (2657)	3/16/1999 8:58:00 PM
From: Hiram Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4134

Kathy et all, good article about T upgrading TCOMA by 2000. news.com But TCI's numbers are no surprise, analysts say. The company had projected it would reach the 26 percent figure by the end of 1998, and managed to meet these predictions head-on. And despite trailing most of its biggest competitors, the company has upgraded its infrastructure quickly over the past year. TCI had only 3 percent of its cable systems upgraded to two-way cable at the end of 1997, according to Bruce Leichtman, director of media and entertainment strategies for market research firm The Yankee Group. The company's investments have put it on track to surpass the industry average by next year, if its upgrade schedule stays on track. The company estimates that by the end of 1999, 51 percent of its systems will be two-way ready, climbing to between 85 and 90 percent by the end of 2000. That compares favorably to Yankee Group projections, which forecast that 41 percent of all industry systems will be upgraded to two-way capability by the end of 1999, and 54 percent by the end of 2000. AT&T dollars speed the pace That pace calls for significant outlays of cash from AT&T, which is making an expensive bet on the future of cable telephony. According to the company's financial documents, close to $5 billion will be invested over the next two years in upgrading TCI's network to handle two-way traffic. The majority of that expenditure will come in 2000, an AT&T spokesman said. The company will focus on the 10 cities in which it is starting cable telephony trials this year, while upgrading some of the infrastructure in other cities. Mass market rollout will not come until 2000, the company has said. Once the network itself can handle the promised packages of digital services, AT&T also has to support the rollout of equipment at customers' homes that will support cable telephones. This will add another $300 to $500 per household to AT&T's startup costs--although this sum will likely find its way incrementally into the customers' telephone bills. Meanwhile, TCI also has been concentrating on upgrading its network to handle digital cable programming. This service is popular with users, and is initially more profitable than cable Net access, but is only marginally tied to AT&T's goals of producing bundled TV, telephony, and Internet service packages. The investment in this area, which still is critical if AT&T is to maintain quality cable programming, will continue to compete for resources that could help speed the rollout of high-speed Net and cable telephony capability. Tim