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Telecom turns to Internet
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March 10, 1998: 12:26 p.m. ET
Britain's Cable & Wireless selects NCI technology for set-top services
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Cable and Wireless Plc, Britain's largest telecommunications firm, is off and running on the information superhighway, flush from a deal it hopes will vault millions of cable subscribers into the interactive fast lane.
C&W's choice Tuesday of an Internet-based software platform made by an affiliate of Netscape and Oracle Corp. could mean that its digital cable subscribers in 7 million households will soon be able to tap into the Internet, bank, shop and surf hundreds of cable channels - all on their television screens.
The platform, known as the DTV Navigator, is a brainchild of Network Computer Inc., a company whose software is helping spearhead the drive to transform the living room television into a multi-purpose command center for a host of services.
With C&W's business, NCI will become one of the top providers of interactive cable technology - muscling in on territory eagerly eyed by Microsoft Corp. and posing a challenge to the software giant's hoped-for supremacy in so-called set-top services.
In recent months, computer makers have jockeyed for lead position in the race to bring set-top devices into the mainstream. The devices, which look like any cable box and rest atop a television set, enable users to tap into the Internet and into hundreds of cable channels on one screen.
Last Fall, CableLabs, a research consortium of cable television operators introduced a set of industry standards, known as OpenCable, for cable operators seeking to branch into the Internet market. NCI's DTV Navigator is a prototype of software designs based on OpenCable standards.
C&W said its Cable & Wireless Communications unit would first deploy the new interactive service to subscribers in the United Kingdom beginning in late 1998. Among the options available to network subscribers will be electronic mail and an electronic program guide.
The service will also provide home banking, shopping, and Web browsing capabilities, along with superior picture quality and enhanced digital delivery speeds. The relative slowness of traditional modems in delivering content to a computer screen makes set-top technology particularly attractive to busy users who don't want to wait, analysts say.
Cable & Wireless executives said the new technology packed a big high-tech punch at relatively low cost to customers.
"We've asked our customers what they want from us, and they have told us that flexibility, choice and value come first for them - not technology," said Graham Wallace, chief executive officer of Cable and Wireless.
He added: "The NCI platform gives the ability to deliver a high level of choice and flexibility in terms of the applications we offer and it insures that we're not locking customers into equipment which will become redundant."
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