BRIEFS

CABLEWORLD STAFF

Comcast Cable has reached a significant milestone in its Los Angeles system, having successfully completed more than 60 million digital-to-digital ad insertion spots to date. The system, supported by Adlink (the L.A. interconnect), nCube Corp. and Terayon Communication Systems, launched more than three years ago and now serves 15 zones at a rate of 57,600 digital ad insertions per day. The L.A. system serves more than 500,000 subscribers and includes 600 channels that provide digital-to-digital ad insertions.

Charter EVP and CTO Steve Silva has resigned, according to the MSO's Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday. A Charter statement gave little explanation for Silva's departure, citing ?personal reasons.? Silva had been SVP of corporate development and technology since 1999, and had been with Charter since 1995.

Pace Micro Technology issued its financial results for the fiscal year ending May 31 with a mood that it characterized as ?cautious optimism.? Set-top volumes fell 41% year-over-year to 1.3 million units, which in turn set in motion a 53% plummet in revenue. Pace attributed the decline to ?challenging markets? and lower selling prices. Back on this side of the pond, Pace said U.S. revenue fell from $61.1 million to $15.8 million.

Texas Instruments announced last week that it has launched a new VoIP chipset for home and small business gateways. The wafer, dubbed the TNETV2510, allows for both toll-quality voice and supports T.38 fax relay. TI is selling the TNETV2510 for under $32 a pop, in unit volumes of 10,000.

Com21 has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the northern district of California. As part of its restructuring plans, the company will sell off certain key assets to Arris, including its DOCSIS CMTS product line and its Irish research and development subsidiary. Arris has been down the fire sale road before, having acquired its C4 CMTS from Cadant in an all-stock deal in 2001.