Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: barefoot@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Heath Roberts)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Videos by Phone
Message-ID: <16438@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 26 Jan 91 00:30:44 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Reply-To: Heath Roberts <barefoot@hobbes.ncsu.edu>
Organization: NCSU Computing Center
Lines: 35
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 68, Message 9 of 11


In article <16392@accuvax.nwu.edu> esupg@cu.warwick.ac.uk (barj) writes:

>> Reportedly, the technology can transmit a two hour movie over phone
>> lines in fifteen seconds to thousands of destinations. 

>If this is the case, you're going to need well over 300,000 telephones.
>And a mailman who will be prepared to deliver the 3500+ bills a day. :-)

>The Sonet/SDH intercontinental level is only going to use a bit-rate
>of 2.4Gbps and I doubt that _that_ will be anywhere near the market
>place by 1995.

Full motion video takes about ten to fifteen megabits per second of
bandwidth. Northern Telecom has 2.4Gb and 4.8Gb units on the market,
and higher-rate units working that have to be field-packaged (I can't
say any more specifics).

This kind of system (selectable video program) has been demonstrated
by Northern Telecom at a retirement community in Florida, and is part
of Fiberworld. It does require fiber optic cable to the customer
premises, and right now such service probably wouldn't be allowed by
regulatory agencies, but it is coming. At least technically.

The service the writer above mentioned is probably a movie-ordering
system. You call a number to see a given movie, the cable TV company
gets your number, maps it to the appropriate video box number, and
tells your decoder to let you watch the movie. The difference is that
your LEC is NOT providing the video, only subscriber information to
the cable franchise. This has been tariffed in a few states already.


Heath Roberts
NCSU Computer and Technologies Theme Program
barefoot@catt.ncsu.edu