As cable TV operators continue to brag about cable modems that will make high-speed Internet access a reality, US Robotics on Monday unveiled a new support system designed to neutralize a major short-term barrier for everyone: cost.
On the consumer end, the company said it will flood retail outlets with new cable modems whose cost will be "comparable" to that of regular telephone modems. And on the business end, the company said its new "cable access system" will make it easier for cable TV operators to deploy cable modem service.
This means that cable modems could become more widely and more quickly available than once thought. But US Robotics was mum on the details Monday, saving the hard sell for next week's Cable 97 convention in New Orleans. The company noted it is in the discussion stages with several unidentified cable operators, and that widespread deployment of its new system likely won't occur until this fall.
The new system will use modems that are compatible with the still-pending MCNS standard. MCNS is a group of six major cable operators - Comcast, Cox Communications, TCI, Time Warner, Continental Cablevision (now US WEST Media Group Inc.), and Rogers Cablesystems - developing standards for a range of cable modem functions on hybrid fiber optic-coaxial (HFC) networks. The HFC configuration is the cable industry's upgrade architecture of choice for two-way data networks. MCNS is expected to announce specifications at Cable 97.
There have been numerous deterrents to cable modem rollouts. Indeed, leasing cable modems to subscribers often requires an operator to spend millions on modems whose costs won't be recovered for years. That's in addition to the expensive upgrades that are necessary to convert one-way transmission facilities into two-way data networks. Competing cable modem standards have also delayed purchase plans out of fear that the inventory could soon become obsolete.
But for now, US Robotics appears to be capitalizing on those very fears. For one thing, it has touted its new "cable access system" as a cost-saver extraordinaire that will, according to a statement, "transform cable modems from costly, leased products into inexpensive, interoperable products that customers will be able to purchase directly." That could allay the widespread fears by cable operators that consumers won't pay two or three times more to buy a cable modem - despite the speed benefits.
The new US Robotics system also uses modems that send upstream data through the telephone return path, steering debt-strapped cable TV operators away from needing to spend millions rebuilding their plants into two-way, switched networks. And if the cable TV operator ever does decide to upgrade, "this same turnkey system can be upgraded to operate on a two-way network with the simple addition of network cards at the head end," said Semir Sirazi, vice president and general manager of US Robotics' Cable Access Business Unit.
The components for the two-way system won't be ready until early 1998, the company said.
