Consumers wanting to know where they can get their high-definition TV will
soon have a cable information database to tap.
Cable Television Laboratories Inc. will expand its Go2Broadband
service-location initiative to include information about what HDTV services are
available via kiosks at retail electronics outlets.
So far, Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable are
planning Go2Broadband HDTV field trials in the first quarter of 2003.
The announcement was made Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas.
"Go2Broadband, already a critical tool for consumers in obtaining high-speed
Internet service from their cable company, will now help to speed the transition
to digital television by connecting viewers with HDTV services in their
community," said Brian Roberts, Comcast's president and CEO and CableLabs'
chairman.
"By adding HDTV information to Go2Broadband, cable operators can now work
with consumer-electronics retailers and manufacturers to promote HDTV," he
added.
Go2Broadband's HDTV-service locator will not only carry information about
which markets offer high-definition content and/or digital services, but it will
also provide information on service tiers and pricing. Consumers can then
contact cable operators and sign up for service.
Nationwide, HDTV service is offered by at least one provider in 91 markets,
62 of which are in the top 100, according to the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association.
About 37 million homes are now passed by an HDTV service, equaling one-third
of U.S. households.
