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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (3909)	5/27/1999 9:06:00 PM
From: ftth	Respond to of 12823

Hi Frank, re:<<cost to upgrade per home passed>> I've seen several sets of numbers, each with different assumptions and including different components so it's hard to compare. One estimate for building an HFC network from scratch (in 1996 dollars) based on 60% penetration and 500 homes/node was $450. This didn't detail what the number included. Upgrading (i.e. replace coax trunk w/ fiber, add 2-way distrib amps, rebuild headend) in another study showed $100-240 per home passed (60% penetration, 500 homes/node) (1997 estimate) Yet another estimate for upgrade costs (1998 estimate) was $700-1200 per subscriber, but this also included the cable modem and installation cost per sub (which the others didn't) at a 10% penetration rate and 500 homes/node. The same study showed an average of $200 per subscriber for a telco return "upgrade" (but a 2-way capable network upgrade) so that's in line with the earlier studies which didn't include install/sub equipment. I'm sure DenverTechie has fresher data, and can better attest to the reality of the numbers, but in the interim this might help. dh

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (3909)	5/28/1999 7:19:00 AM
From: Hiram Walker	Respond to of 12823

Frank, I was wondering if you could comment on VOD(maybe WTC or Denver could). In Orlando at the SCTE convention HLIT was demonstrating a VOD system with a company called Seachange out of Maynard,Mass(SEAC). Here is a comment from an article about VOD talking with SEAC executive. schange.com Although the concept of every potential VOD subscriber owning his/her own digital channel may seem overwhelming, the amount of bandwidth required for a VOD network is quite reasonable. Factors for calculating channels required depend on the number of nodes used for combining, size of nodes, encoding rate, VOD penetration rate, simultaneous streams and QAM modulation. As an example, assume that combining takes place for four 500-home nodes and the VOD penetration rate is 15% of homes passed. Movies are assumed to be encoded at 3 Mbps each. From the many early VOD trials, we have learned that we can support our VOD subscribers by building to 10% simultaneous usage, meaning one stream or bandwidth availability can support 10 VOD subscribers. So, four 500-home nodes equals 2,000 homes passed. At 15% penetration, we have 300 VOD homes or 30 VOD streams required. Assuming 3 Mbps encoding, this equals 90 Mbps that are required. If we use 256-QAM (at 38 Mbps per 6 MHz channel), our system would require just over two 6 MHz channels. Since some broadcast bandwidth is required for data and navigation graphics, we can assume three channels are needed in this VOD bandwidth model. If all video servers reside in the head-end, we must transport all required bandwidth to each hub. If a hub has 20,000 homes passed with a 15% VOD penetration and movies are encoded at 3 Mbps, we must have the fiber and transport capacity to send 900 Mbps to each hub. This typically can be done using one OC-48 connection. It is important to note that scaling via this distribution method also will incur more transport costs. If all video servers reside in hubs, there is no transport cost involved, although a high-speed local area network (LAN) connection likely will be quired to connect the servers for content management. Scaling does not require add-on transport cost and is a more efficient method of installing VOD when hub space is available and the server platform is fault-resilient and efficient enough to run unmanned. One thing is no one is using 256 QAM,the second thing is the nodes are no longer 500 homes,they are mainly 250. It looks like he has a very ambitious agenda,3 6Mhz channels when HLIT's system is using 8 6 mhz channels. The system and servers are on a RAID 5 NT configuration from the headend I believe. Hiram

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (3909)	5/28/1999 4:37:00 PM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 12823

Re: Paul Allen's Cable Empire Frank&Thread, Just pulled the following off CNET News.com site. Here's the article even though it really doesn't say a whole lot: news.com But it does fill in the blanks on the figures I didn't know in the last post I did regarding $/subscriber. And the line about, "costly network upgrades.." is music to my ears. It's probably going to be one heck of an IPO and the money raised will be put to good use. MikeM(From Florida) ************************ Allen takes Charter to new heights ...Many of the systems Charter has bought, including Falcon Cable and Fanch Communications, are not upgraded for two-way cable--a necessary feature for interactive services such as Net access, telephony, and interactive television. Allen is reportedly considering an initial public stock offering for Charter that, analysts said, could raise the necessary money to invest in costly network upgrades required for many of Charter's new systems.