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From: djcl@contact.uucp (woody)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Videos by Phone
Message-ID: <16348@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 23 Jan 91 05:31:04 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 60, Message 8 of 10


A recent article from the Reuters news service mentioned a company
called Explore Technology Inc. which apparently is about to deliver
the first video-on-demand service, Instant Video. This product was
demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Reportedly, the technology can transmit a two hour movie over phone
lines in fifteen seconds to thousands of destinations. That must be
something like 20-40 gigabits/s transmission (and to think people get
excited over such primitive toys as ISDN or mere 56 kb/s stuff :->).
Or perhaps they mean that the movie itself is transmitted real-time,
but the ordering of the movie only takes 15 seconds. A receiver would
store the movie for playback when the customer wishes.

The system could be on the market as early as 1995.