SNET Gets FCC OK to Expand Video Trial.NEW HAVEN New Haven, city (1990 pop. 130,474), New Haven co., S Conn., a port of entry where the Quinnipiac and other small rivers enter Long Island Sound; inc. 1784. Firearms and ammunition, clocks and watches, tools, rubber and paper products, and textiles are among the many , Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 1994-- The Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. (FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. ) today gave Southern New England Telephone The Southern New England Telephone Company (commonly referred to as SNET by its customers) started operations on January 27, 1878 as the District Telephone Company of New Haven. It was the founder of the first telephone exchange, as well as the world's first telephone book. (SNET n. 1. The fat of a deer. v. t. 1. The clear of mucus; to blow. ) the green light to dramatically expand its current trial of Video Dialtone* service. The current SNET trial area of 1,250 homes in West Hartford West Hartford, town (1990 pop. 60,110), Hartford co., central Conn., a suburb of Hartford; settled c.1679, inc. 1854. Industrial production, which comprises a geographically small part of West Hartford, includes machine tools and parts, aircraft accessories, air , offers some Video Dialtone services including video-on-demand, traditional and premium channels, time- shifted news and time-shifted TV programming. The trial will now expand to 150,000 homes in Hartford and Fairfield Counties in Connecticut and is planned to offer a wide range of services in the future including movies that have been digitized and stored in a computer delivered to customers' television screens "on demand" plus advanced interactive services such as home shopping Home Shopping commonly refers to the electronic retailing / home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar companies as HSN, QVC, eBay, ShopNBC, Buy.com, and Amazon.com. , educational and health care services, and an array of business applications. "This is great news for Connecticut," said Dan Miglio, SNET Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Just this morning we announced a $450 million purchase of cellular properties in Massachusetts and Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. from Nynex and Bell Atlantic. And now, we get the good news that the FCC has approved our application to expand our video dialtone trial. These two major announcements highlight our wireless and wireline strategies and further demonstrate our commitment to transforming SNET, to better serving our customers and to assuring our long term success in this rapidly changing industry." "Our current trial of video-on-demand is already the nation's largest," said Ronald M. Serrano, SNET's Senior Vice President-Corporate Development. "This FCC approval clearly will enable us to gain additional insights into what Video Dialtone services a more diverse universe of customers wants and what technologies can best provide those services. With this test, we'll take a giant leap forward in making the information superhighway a reality and in bringing it first to Connecticut." SNET filed its request with the FCC in December 1993 under the commission's Video Dialtone rules which permit telephone companies to furnish a video pipeline to subscribers. The expanded trial will begin offering service to customers in additional Connecticut communities early next year. It will serve portions of: Farmington, Hartford, New Britain New Britain, city, United States New Britain, industrial city (1990 pop. 75,491), Hartford co., central Conn.; settled c.1686, inc. 1871. The tin shops and brassworks in the city were established in the 18th cent. and West Hartford in Hartford County; Darien, Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport in Fairfield County. During the initial stages of construction and testing, SNET will provide 78 analog channels. Participants can choose from traditional television, premium channels and pay-per-view, with the capability for "time shifting See timeshifting. (programming) time shifting - A technique used to work around problems due to the Year 2000 and the "millennium bug". Time shifting involves translating date fields in a database back by a fixed number of years to avoid year 2000 problems with the database " some programs. For example, the early evening news could be viewed later in the evening. By the end of 1995, plans are to supplement these channels to include a minimum of 200 digital channels capable of delivering movies and other advanced video programs on demand. For example, subscribers would be able to use a hand-held remote control to select a film from a video-store-size library, then start and stop it at their convenience. "The eventual conversion to digital technology means our head-end operations will be completely computerized," Serrano said. He added, "This expanded trial will give us the kind of large-scale marketing information we'll need as we roll out information age services for all of our customers across the state. It will help us assess our actual costs for delivering service and attract program providers who cannot afford to do an effective test on our current, smaller trial." The trial is one of the first uses of I-SNET, Connecticut's broadband information superhighway. I- SNET is a hybrid fiber optic/coaxial cable network design. SNET began building this $4.5 billion statewide network in April, with completion scheduled for 2009. "Although Video Dialtone is new and exciting," Serrano said, "it's but the tip of the iceberg tip of the iceberg n. pl. tips of the iceberg A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden: afraid that these few reported cases of the disease might only be the tip of the iceberg. as we look forward to the many advanced services that SNET will be bringing to Connecticut as we turn the century." Southern New England Telephone is a subsidiary of Southern New England Telecommunications Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation started operations in 1986 as the holding company for The Southern New England Telephone Company. Prior to 1986, The Southern New England Telephone Company had been a minority holding of AT&T until February 1986, when AT&T , Inc., an independent telecommunications company that offers, through its subsidiaries, network and information management services and communications systems; in- state, national and international long distance communications service; directory publishing and advertising services; and cellular mobile phone and paging services. SNET is building I-SNET, Connecticut's broadband information superhighway to serve all its customers. -0- (a)-Under the FCC's Video Dialtone program, telephone companies are allowed to carry video services, including traditional broadcast channels, pay-per-view channels and video-on-demand. Video-on-demand includes interactive services that give subscribers more control, such as selecting, starting and stopping a movie, ordering an item on a home shopping channel or playing video games. Telephone companies are not allowed to own or select the video programming provided over these channels. CONTACT: SNET Beverly Levy, (203) 771-4474 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion