SkyStream's the limit
Charles Dubow, Forbes.com, 12.14.99, 6:00 AM ET
General Instrument Corporation (GI) gi (nyse: gi - news - people) and Internet broadcast equipment maker SkyStream are announcing today that they will be working together to provide an integrated in-band data broadcasting solution for the cable market.
Together the two companies will be able to make broadcast-quality video available for the Internet to cable users on either televisions or PCs.
In-band data broadcasting sends high-speed data over cable bandwidth normally reserved for sending video programming. It also allows cable operators to maximize their bandwidth and effectively broadcast data and video more effectively on their networks.
"Cable networks face the problem of getting filled up so they are often forced to restrict the amount of data they can transmit," according to Jim Olsen, president and CEO of privately held SkyStream. "We allow cable operators to offer unlimited scalability and take advantage of 100% of their bandwidth."
GI, which recently agreed to be acquired by Motorola mot (nyse: mot - news - people), is the world's largest set-top maker. SkyStream's media routers will be integrated with GI's digital cable headend system to enable cable operators to deliver IP-based data in-band, enabling it to offer a wide variety of video content and rich media without limits.
SkyStream, based in Mountain View, Calif., has already been working with the satellite industry but the announcement with GI is its first foray into the cable market. "We are designed to be platform agnostic," says Olsen. "We can work with any kind of broadcast media, from satellite uplinks to cable head-ends to digital TV stations."
"We see data broadcasting as a critical part of the new generation of cable infrastructure technologies," said Kevin Keefe, director of product marketing for GI's Digital Network Systems business unit. "With so many cable customers now able to access both video and data programming, cable operators must begin to deploy techniques such as in-band data insertion to deliver information more efficiently. The DCT 5000+ advanced set-top terminals and digital network systems are designed to deliver this convergence of video, voice and data over a MSO's [multisystem operator] broadband network."
SkyStream has already deployed its hardware and software with Echostar dish (nasdaq: dish - news - people), Switzerland's Cablecom, Loral Orion lor (nyse: lor - news - people) and Spain's Telefonica tef (nyse: tef - news - people).
The three-year-old company has raised $27 million from its backers, which include Intel intc (nasdaq: intc - news - people), the Mayfield Fund, IVP and Norwest Ventures, and plans to go public in 2000.
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