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U S West weds Web, phones
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April 20, 1998: 2:01 p.m. ET
Baby Bell to offer digital TV, Internet access via standard telephone lines
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Further blurring the lines between telephones, the Internet and cable TV, U S West Communications Inc. said Monday it will offer digital TV and high-speed Internet access over existing home phone lines.
The Denver-based Baby Bell will leverage a technology called Very high Speed Digital Subscriber Line to offer more than 120 cable channels and CD-quality sound to customers in the Phoenix area starting this summer via copper-wire lines.
Common telephone-related features such as caller ID and voice messaging are to be wed with Internet and TV functions as part of U S West's new package, known as TeleChoice.
"This is an exciting breakthrough," said Solomon D. Trujillo, U S West president and chief executive officer. "At last, people will be able to marry the convenience of television and telephones with the power of the Internet."
Delivering the service across U S West's phone network will pit the company against Cox Communications Inc., the dominant cable TV provider in Phoenix.
NextLevel Communications will pair up with U S West to provide residential infrastructure and in-home gateway boxes required as part of the new service.
About 400,000 customer lines in Phoenix will have access to the service by the end of the year. U S West plans to expand the service to its other markets next year.
Frank Governali, telecommunications analyst at CS First Boston, expressed skepticism that the service can be deployed cost effectively in the next 12 to 18 months, however.
"New rollouts like this typically take longer and costs more than we would hope for," he said.
Shares of U S West Communications Inc. (USW), a publicly-traded unit of the holding company U S West Inc., were off 1-1/16 at 52-13/16 early Monday.
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