BRIEFS

Cable World,  Sept 15, 2003  

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S-A, MOTO STOCKS FALL AFTER FCC DECISION

The Federal Communications Commission's approval of plug-and-play may have been a boon to consumers, but it didn't do the nation's top set-top box manufacturers any favors. In the two days following the commission's unanimous vote, Scientific-Atlanta stock dropped 5%, from a 52-week high of $37.14 to $32.36 at the close on Thursday. Motorola also dipped, but seemed to recover some momentum late in the week. The call to allow consumers to purchase TV sets that can display digital content without the intermediation of a set-top may have long-ranging effects on the two industry leaders, analysts say. But you can't fight progress. FCC chairman Michael Powell called the vote "a victory for consumers and a major step in the digital television transition."

HD A CLEAR WINNER IN U.S.

If HD doesn't take off this year, it won't be for a lack of programming. According to figures from the NCTA, 60 million households in 83 of the top 100 DMAs have the opportunity to gawk at some form of hi-def offering or another, thanks to their local cable company. That's a 60% increase since January, which suggests that America is finally starting to take the HD bait in all its sharp and vivid glory. Overall, 122 of the existing 210 DMAs now offer HD cable service.

UCENTRIC JOINS DHWG

Ucentric Systems has joined the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG), a non-profit organization dedicated to simplifying the sharing of digital content among networked consumer electronics, hand-held devices and PCs. Ucentric joins a group that includes such digital heavyweights as Gateway, IBM, HP, Nokia, Panasonic, Microsoft and Sony. The DHWG says it will work to develop tech specs that will be used to facilitate the interoperability of most digital devices; the first fruits of these specs should arrive in stores next June.

CORE SCORES MORE $$$

Core Networks said it had closed its latest round of funding last week, bringing $5.7 million into its coffers with the help of VCs such as ACF Equity, RBC Capital, Skypoint Capital and MM Venture Partners. An OSS firm based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Core said it will use its newfound riches to accelerate development of its latest OSS platform offering and to give a marketing push to its CoreMeter network assurance product.

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