BRIEFS

Cable World, June 2, 2003

NCUBE, MIDSTREAM DEAL TO OPEN UP VOD LANES

NCube is licensing its software suite to MidStream Technologies in an OEM deal that could result in greater operator flexibility in delivering VOD. MidStream president and CEO Ed Huguez says his company will distribute, brand and market nCube's management and interface software when it markets its line of video servers to MSOs. The agreement is not exclusive and MidStream could end up cutting similar deals with other software vendors, Huguez notes. "We could do deals with SeaChange and Concurrent," he says. "One size doesn't fit all anymore." By the same token, nCube president and CEO Mike Pohl says the integration agreement doesn't mean nCube is giving up on the hardware side of its business. "We're not afraid to share our [intellectual property] to launch the business forward," Pohl says of the OEM deal. "Anything to get a wider distribution and expand the on-demand business."

BABY BELLS MAKE A MOVE TOWARD VIDEO, HSD

The nation's three largest telephone companies announced a scheme to cooperate on bids for gear that would provide their customers video and high-speed Internet services. Last Thursday, SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and BellSouth agreed to standardize the construction of residential fiber-optic networks in an effort to break cable's stranglehold on broadband. The companies are not expected to begin building out networks until at least 2004, and the first target areas approached will likely be greenfields. Just over 35,000 U.S. homes are directly fed by fiber lines.

CALL FOR WHITE PAPERS

The California Cable and Telecommunications Association and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers have announced that they are seeking proposals for technical sessions to be presented at this year's Western Show. The deadline for submissions is July 11. Both governing bodies said that proposals covering any topic will be considered, although preferential consideration would be granted papers covering network security, network management in a retail environment and traffic management. The Western Show will be held December 2 to 5 at the Anaheim Convention Center.