FEATURE STORY
HDTV: Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

We've been talking a lot about HDTV on these pages over the last few weeks, and it's for a good reason: Cable's honchos have made big high-def promises recently, and as with any technology commitment, it's the engineering community that will do the real execution.

That's not to say that you haven't been rolling out HD already. MSOs report that they've launched HDTV on systems serving approximately one-third of U.S. television households in more than 90 markets across the United States, according to the National Cable Television Association (http://www.ncta.com). That's great news for HD newbies who can study lessons-learned from the deployments in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Miami, San Diego, Detroit, Baltimore-Washington and more.

Don't Be Late -- "HDTV is the big winner in the years ahead," Comcast CEO Roberts said last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "These are our best customers, and now is the time. It's better to be a year early than two years late.

That's because cable realized that HD was the way its best customers were going, "and we weren't there," Cox CEO James Robbins explained at CES. Because DBS was already there in many cases, Time Warner Cable provides its customers HDTV service (where it is available) at no additional cost, the op's CEO Glenn Britt reported. It's a great retention tool against satellite, he said.

Stocking the HD Toolbox -- Vendors weren't slacking on the HD front at CES. Motorola (http://www.motorola.com/broadband) and Pioneer Electronics ( http://www.pioneerelectronics.com) used the confab to announce that they'll soon begin compatibility tests between Motorola's MediaCipher conditional access system and Pioneer's plasma (flat screen) HD-compatible TV sets. These tests are important because they mark the first of their kind to bring together independently developed point-of-deployment (POD) and plasma HD compatible TV host technology, and "marks the beginning for establishing a real framework for support of DTV receivers, digital recorders with secure interfaces, and other devices for cable systems," according to the two companies.

Sigma Designs (http://www.sigmadesigns.com) used the show to launch what it terms "the industry's first family of integrated HDTV decoder chips to support MPEG-4." The EM8605 and EM8610 chips offer an architecture that supports digital TV, DVD, VOD and PVR apps. Companies already moving forward with set-top designs based on the EM8605 chip, include e-BOX, National Semiconductor and Toshiba.

Ucentric Systems (http://www.ucentric.com) rolled out a home networking solution for video based on the 802.11g wireless networking standard. Capable of delivering the distribution of all formats of broadcast quality digital video -- including HDTV -- and all services associated with broadband wireless networking on the same in- home network. Ucentric says that with its software and apps, manufacturers can build products ranging from standalone PVRs to multi-TV PVRs, media centers and media gateways.

ENGINEERING NEWS
Is Microsoft Undermining MPEG-4?

In what is being called "yet another barely cloaked attempt to extend its operating system monopoly to all consumer devices," Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com) plans to undermine the most promising new audio/video industry standard, MPEG-4, says Elliot Broadwin, CEO of iVAST (http://www.ivast.com).

Microsoft's critics say that the company is moving to undercut the license fees recently announced by MPEG-LA, the licensing body for the MPEG-4 patent pool to expand its control of the digital media industry.

"This is not a time to sit back and watch Microsoft extend its monopoly at the cost of consumer choice just as it has done with operating systems, web browsers, office productivity, and streaming media software," Broadwin says. "The interest of consumers is best served when they have choice - which is exactly what open industry standards, like MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, are designed to provide," he adds.

Will Poole, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Windows New Media Platform division, said in a Jan. 7 New York Times article, "(With Microsoft)... the consumer will have a better experience with compatibility with all these devices."

According to Broadwin, the MPEG-4 industry takes issue with Microsoft's claim of compatibility. He says that any other company would publish open interfaces to offer these benefits to consumers, Microsoft insists that the only way to achieve these benefits is to create all new content in a proprietary Microsoft format, deliver it over Microsoft servers with Microsoft management software, and play it back on devices running Microsoft's Windows Media software.

• Correction -- The link to Adtec was incorrect in last week's issue of Pipeline. The correct link is http://www.adtecinc.com.

CAREER ENGINEER
How to Avoid OSS Pitfalls

"The telcos have pioneered with OSS in their much larger, monopoly systems," Paul Kagan, a veteran media analyst, says. "So as cable operators migrate to their own new operational platforms, including telephony, they have to learn to avoid the pitfalls of the telcos while creating new standards of service for their own customers."

Those of you in Miami this week for SCTE's (http://www.scte.org) Emerging Technologies conference at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort in Miami can also attend the Kagan OSS Summit, which happens Jan. 14 before ET begins.

Representatives from Time Warner Cable, Hewlett-Packard, Liberate and Imagine Broadband will discuss the impact of multiple service offerings on system operations. Speakers from General Communication Inc., Ceon, Convergys, Enhanced Telecommunications, Stargus and Narad Networks will tackle provisioning and customer care issues.

And what about the issue of techs, truck rolls and CSRs weighed against revenue and cash flow? Presenters from Cedar Point, Lemur Networks, Alopa Networks, C-COR.net, Cauldron Solutions and N2 Broadband will take on those issues.

For more info, visit http://www.kagan.com/kmarket/conferences/2003_conferences/oss03w.shtml. Watch for a full report from the OSS Summit, as well as Emerging Technologies 2003, in next week's issue of Pipeline.

BROADBAND SOAPBOX
1,024-QAM: Too Early to Worry?

Just because you've made the big commitment to 64- or 256-QAM, that doesn't mean you won't be experimenting with 1,024-QAM. The higher you go, the more bandwidth you have. But, if you've migrated from 64- to 256-QAM, you know that 256 offers little room for further noise degradation. And, 1,024-QAM is even more sensitive to impairments.

Here's a to-the-point response Pipeline received last week on the topic:

"Why don't we handle 256 QAM properly before we move to a higher QAM system?" -- J.A. (Andre) Andy Lamarre, Director of Engineering, Trispec Communications

Got Two Cents? Send an e-mail to . All letters may be published, and edited for style or length.

SCTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chapter Leaders: CLC Registration Ends This Week

Make sure you register for SCTE's Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC) 2003 by this Friday (Jan. 17). Set for Feb. 20-21 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport hotel, CLC is an exclusive forum for current SCTE chapter leaders, and prospective leaders. Register at http://www.scte.org/events/index.cfm?pID=279, or call .

Kudos to Bonneville Chapter, Winner of MGM 2002 -- SCTE's Bonneville Chapter, based in Salt Lake City, worked hard to bring in 146 new SCTE members and certification enrollees, winning first place in the 2002 Member-Get-A-Member (MGM) Campaign. Badger State Chapter finished second with 126. Congratulations to all of the chapters that made this year's MGM campaign the most successful ever! The campaign yielded a record-breaking 650 recruits, easily topping the goal of 550. View the final results for all chapters by clicking Chapter Progress at http://www.scte.org/membership/index.cfm?pID=196.

Nominate a Colleague for 2003 Spring Awards -- SCTE is seeking nominations for its prestigious annual spring awards that recognize cable telecommunications professionals and companies for their contributions to the Society and accomplishments within the industry. The awards include Member of the Year, Hall of Fame, Field Operations, Personal Achievement, Women in Technology, and Safety. Winners will be recognized at SCTE's 20th Anniversary Cable-Tec Expo, set for May 11-14 in Philadelphia. Nominate a colleague before the March 3 deadline at http://www.scte.org/membership/index.cfm?pID=26.

Society to Offer Cable 101 in Spanish at the Texas Show -- Get an easy-to-understand overview of technical concepts and terminology of the traditional cable system during SCTE's Cable 101 seminar, Feb. 19 in Spanish and English. It all takes place at the Texas Show -- CableConnects, Regional Broadband Conference and Expo -- set for Feb. 19-21 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. For more information about SCTE's programs at the confab, visit http://www.txcable.com/, or contact Elizabeth Christian at or .

If you find CT's Pipeline to be a valuable resource, e-mail this issue to your colleagues and tell them it's just one of the many exclusive benefits of SCTE membership--only a click away at http://www.scte.org/membership/index.cfm?pID=27.

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