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JIM BARTHOLD
Aaron Starr has a way for cable operators to make a little extra bread.
Starr is president of North American Cable Equipment, a small West Chester, Pa.-based firm that develops and markets "whole-house video distribution systems." He figures cable operators can use these systems to make a buck by juicing up subscribers' home entertainment options while cable technicians go through their normal installation steps.
"You install cable TV, and they have a cable going through the house, but they have a DVD player in the family room and want to watch it in every room in the house," he says. "You install a little in-home modulator."
After assigning an unused cable channel to conduct the signals, the installer attaches the modulator to the in-home cable network and sends signals wherever there's a cable connection.
Starr sells the units to cable operators, satellite installers and others who put "video networks" into homes.
With digital TV, the unit could be used by consumers who want to watch their digital channels in another location but don't want to rent another box. "You could take the output of the set-top box and run those into the modulator," he says.
This doesn't multiply the subscriber's digital connection, though, because "the consumer can only watch in one location," Starr continues. "If someone else is using that digital set-top box, you're stuck watching the same program."
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