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

To: BillyG who wrote (41098)	5/14/1999 4:40:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Microsoft's hold on UK cable............................... inside-cable.co.uk 10th May 1999 ENTER MICROSOFT ... SO WHAT NEXT ? Or use your browser BACK button to return to the previous page. With the acquisition of a major stake in Telewest, Microsoft looks set to become the catalyst around which the UK cable industry will finally coalesce. Microsoft already holds a 5% stake in NTL. CWC and Telewest are in discussions about some kind of merger and it is known that NTL would be keen to acquire any properties which may become available in such an event. A three-way merger is not guaranteed – despite all the press speculation. The regulators have already said that any merger bringing together more than 25% of the customers in the pay-TV market will be examined closely. Even a CWC/Telewest merger breaks that barrier. A radical re-structuring of the UK industry could take place on the basis of separating network and service structures. This could be an approach which meets with regulatory approval, and could also meet Microsoft's objectives. The software giant has never sought to own or control hardware or infrastructure companies. It has used its financial and technical muscle to influence decision making and to ensure that its longer term goals are recognised and implemented. It is no coincidence that even on the Mac platform the dominant professional office software tools are from Microsoft and that PC emulation is a widely used feature, but Apple remains autonomous despite Microsoft investment. Microsoft is much more interested in service development and being a major player in the new world of interactive services. Dominance there, not just through operating systems but through use of its tools in e-commerce and e-mail in particular, will give it a platform with which others would find it hard to compete. The world of IP telephony is steadily opening up and Microsoft will not ignore this opportunity to outflank the traditional switched telcos. Cable companies in the UK are also switched operators but transitions take time and to gain experience of a mass market low-tariff IP service which has an initial low penetration, alongside a more traditional network with a high penetration, would be valuable experience for developments elsewhere in the world. The potential for video-telephony, which is now developing faster in the UK than anywhere else, is also one which Microsoft will not ignore. Broadband systems are essential for such high bandwidth demands and the technology offers a classic upgrade route for the Windows operating environment, first in PCs then in suitably upgraded settop boxes. So the question of whether Microsoft will force Windows CE onto Telewest is a trivial view. Equally views about simple mergers may be wide of the mark. The outcome of what will undoubtedly be some kind of rationalisation will be to make the UK Microsoft's new home service laboratory. Let's just hope it won't be inclined to crash when another piece of software is loaded. ©Copyright 1999