Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : IATV-ACTV Digital Convergence Software-HyperTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: art slott who wrote (4264)	5/27/1999 1:04:00 PM
From: Mike Fredericks	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13157

You still don't get that HyperTV is all about synchronization. Yes, I do. I think that the coordinated web-site/cable channel is a 2-box solution. I think that HyperTV would be a natural evolution of the above into a 1-box solution. However, the news article described it as a 2-box solution. Ok, wait a second, maybe I don't get it. (I'm being serious). My impression is that HyperTV is a web/tv convergence technology. Internet URL's are imbedded in normal television content. The user will have the ability to get data from those URLs if desired (although the fact that it's a URL will likely be transparent to the user). The content from the internet is then integrated seamlessly into the broadcast... the user thinks they are watching an enhanced, interactive television show. If that's what HyperTV is, then I think HyperTV is about much more than synchronization. Merely having the same content on the internet and on tv is not HyperTV. HyperTV is much more than that. Hence, I don't think that the product in question is a HyperTV product YET. I think that someone at Fox is smart enough that they are setting it up so that integrating the two and making it HyperTV enabled will be a snap if HyperTV succeeds and is cost-effective. If I'm wrong about HyperTV, then please show me where I'm wrong, because I'd hate to misunderstand something that is this important. -Mike

To: art slott who wrote (4264)	5/27/1999 5:15:00 PM
From: Craig Jacobs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13157

SINCE everyone is asleep, I figured I would post some info, This should be our target price ... The shares of Worldgate Communications (WGAT) are rated a STRONG BUY by Preferred Capital Markets, with a 12-month to 18-month price target of $75. The company provides proprietary networking technology to cable companies, allowing them to offer consumers digital Internet services through their televisions. The company completed its IPO on April 15, selling shares to the public at $21. The brokerage forecasts that Worldgate Communications subscriber base will grow from 50,000 this year to 250,000 in 2000 and 650,000 in 2001. Preferred Capital Markets expects the company to post a loss of $1.61 per share for 1999 and a loss of $1.24 per share for 2000. In 2001, the company is forecast to post a loss of $0.40 per share. In 2002, the brokerage expects Worldgate Communications to finally attain profitability, forecasting EPS of $0.48.

To: art slott who wrote (4264)	5/27/1999 5:17:00 PM
From: Craig Jacobs	Respond to of 13157

of interest... Internet Firms Urge FCC To Ensure Cable Access MCI WorldCom: Make Access Requirement of AT&T-MediaOne Merger By Aaron Pressman Reuters WASHINGTON (May 24) - America Online, MCI WorldCom Inc. and other Internet companies again urged federal authorities to bar cable operators from striking exclusive deals on new high-speed Internet service offerings, participants in closed-door talks said Monday. Internet providers want to be sure that consumers will enjoy the same open access to their services via cable networks that they now have over phone lines, and not have to ''pay twice'' the way some cable operators want them to. Federal Communications Commission staff heard detailed pitches from the Internet companies along with responses from cable operators, who oppose any new regulations. The meeting was to continue on Tuesday as part of an ''informal, educational'' session on the convergence of the cable and Internet industries, attendees said. The FCC has twice turned aside Internet companies' pleas on cable Internet services, but AT&T Corp.'s planned acquisition of MediaOne Group Inc., the long distance giant's second major cable purchase, has renewed the interest of regulators and lawmakers in Congress as well. Under current law and FCC rules, phone companies offering high or low speed Internet access must offer customers a choice of Internet service providers -- companies that provide features like e-mail and Web page hosting. But the same rules do not apply to cable operators. AT&T, for example, requires customers of high-speed cable Internet access to purchase the services of AtHome Corp. , a cable-owned provider controlled by AT&T, for a single price. Cable Internet customers may also reach AOL or other providers, but still must pay for the cable operator's provider. Internet companies argue that by, in effect, forcing customers to pay twice to reach them, the cable companies are stifling competition and could potentially exercise undue control over Internet content. MCI WorldCom chief policy counsel Jonathan Sallet said the FCC ought to make open access to cable Internet service a prerequisite to approving AT&T's merger with MediaOne. ''We believe open access to the nation's cable systems will guarantee that consumers can use the Internet any way they choose,'' Sallet said. Cable companies say the FCC has no authority to interfere, and that the exclusive deals are needed to pay for the expensive upgrades necessary to allow Internet service to be offered over cable wires. AT&T spokesman Jim McGann said MCI and others ''happen to be wrong.'' McGann said AT&T was acquiring cable companies primarily to compete in the local telephone market against the regional Bell companies. On the open access issue, McGann said: ''The FCC has looked at it. They said they will monitor it and that's the appropriate role for the government at this point.'' Last week, FCC chairman William Kennard asserted that his agency had authority to require cable operators to change their practices. But Kennard said he had not heard a good suggestion for how open access rules could be crafted without creating excessive regulation. In addition to MCI, AT&T and AOL, other companies expected to speak at the two-day meeting included Cox Communications Inc., Bell Atlantic Corp. and the Commercial Internet Exchange. FCC officials attending included top staff from the agency's cable and common carrier bureaus. FCC officials had little comment Monday on the meetings but said a statement might be issued on Tuesday. 18:43 05-24-99 Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.