Trying to get cable operators, computer companies, and networking groups on the same page is a little like asking the NBA and the NFL to play by the same rule book. But that is exactly what set-top-box companies must accomplish in 1999.
The Western Cable Show, happening this week in Anaheim, California, is where chipmakers, software firms, and high-speed-modem makers meet in one room, and the set-top box is their common playing field.
Cable operators are standing by, waiting for industry standards to take hold before they begin to offer new, high-bandwidth interactive services to their customers.
"There are several issues here, and it's confusing to the cable industry and real confusing to the outside world," said Gary Arlen, president of Arlen Communications in Bethesda, Maryland. "Is a digital set-top box the same as a cable modem? Today, the answer is no, but later on maybe. [Set-top makers] don't know which of these games is going to work."
The basic premise is to merge TV with the Internet to create a whole new platform for entertainment and advertising. Set-top users will be able to order pay-per-view movies, use email, browse the Web, shop electronically, and create in-home networks.
That's assuming cable providers figure out which systems to sell and what networks to plug them into.
CableLabs, a consortium of over 60 cable providers headed by John Malone of Tele-Communications Inc., or TCI, is setting the standard for set-top-box technology. The consortium wants all set-top components to adhere to its OpenCable standard and work well together, but the standard is only now being adopted.
Equipment manufacturers are expected to roll out the first products based on the spec in early 1999.
Arlen said that the OpenCable standard -- along with another specification known as Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification, or DOCSIS -- is essential if the retail market for set-top boxes is to take off. DOCSIS will allow high-speed cable modems to communicate with each other; OpenCable will do the same for digital set-top boxes. DOCSIS has been in the final stages of development since last year.
"They say the Holy Grail is supposed to be ready next month," said Arlen, referring to DOCSIS. "I heard that last February, and here we are in December."
But none of it will go anywhere without marketplace acceptance.
