?Nothing recedes like success.?
? Walter Winchell

Given his considerable struggles to reach the heights he had once attained with Microsoft, you have to wonder if Paul Allen doesn't have the Winchell quip embroidered on a throw pillow in the den of his Seattle manse. Without cataloging some of the reversals Allen has weathered since leaving Redmond, it's long been apparent that the Accidental Zillionaire is in dire need of a victory.

Looks like he's finally got it. Allen-backed Charter Communications will power its advanced digital services platform with Digeo's Moxi Media Center, agreeing to purchase 100,000 specially bundled Motorola BMC set-tops.

The boxes, which feature full HDTV and DVR capabilities, along with Digeo's suite of i-Channels, will first be deployed in Charter's Rochester, Minn., system.

Allen's Vulcan Ventures is the lead investor in Digeo, but that didn't give the company an automatic bid with Charter, said Digeo CEO Jim Billmaier.

?They are an investor, and we work collaboratively with them to design products, but it's like any other vendor-client relationship ? we have to work to gain their confidence and prove our product out,? Billmaier said. The deployment is the first for the Moxi Media Center, which is embedded in two Motorola units, the BMC 9012 and the BMC 9022D, which ships with an integrated DVD player. About 80% of the order will be filled by the BMC 9012.

The deal could very well justify Charter's fervid belief in ITV. A recent Frank N. Magid Associates survey found that digital subs who used the i-Channel services were 17% less likely to consider switching to satellite.

?It's a simple concept,? said Steve Silva, until recently EVP and CTO of Charter (see briefs). ?When customers are happy they are less likely to switch to satellite.?

That happiness is contagious. Although its Q2 filing revealed that Broadband Communications Segment sales were down 26%, the Charter pact reestablishes Motorola as the industry leader.

?One of the big wins out of this is the furthering of our relationship with Motorola,? Billmaier said. ?We've been proselytizing that relationship for some time, and now it's bearing fruit.?

THE NEXT QUESTION:

• Will the Moxi platform win over enough customers to stimulate growth for Charter?

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