DSL video finding its home

Hart Telephone, a 10,000-line Independent, said it will become one of the first U.S. telcos to deploy a digital subscriber line-based video network.

Using equipment from mPhase Technologies, Hart will deploy a 16-channel system to 100 homes in Hartwell, Ga., over the next few months. The company will provide 1 Mb/s Internet access service and voice over the same twisted pair. In early 1999, the company will expand to 80 channels and 1000 homes.

The technology is based on DSL but uses a proprietary central office platform that segments the three services. At the home, the company installs an intelligent network interface, which directs data streams to the proper destination. In future implementations, that interface could be a set-top box, said Ron Durando, president and CEO of mPhase.

mPhase is one of the few vendors left using DSL for video. Most early promoters have abandoned those plans for data-only architectures, though NextLevel Communications is deploying such a system with U S West.

Hart Tel is typical of the Independents that mPhase is chasing. Hart operates a cable system in a rural area of its service territory.

"This is going to allow us to expand and learn the cable business," said Mike McInerney, executive vice president of Hart. "What's going to be studied in the next couple years is, 'what do you do when you have 7 Mb/s coming into your house?'"

mPhase also is setting up a unit to provide encoded video to telcos using its system.