Charter Names Liberate as Interactive Services Supplier

(Telephony) Charter Communications will use Liberate Technologies' software platform to roll out interactive TV services, including Web access via TVs, later this year.

The St. Louis-based cable operator plans to offer service to at least 300,000 subscribers using advanced digital set-top boxes from Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"You will see deployments this year," promised Stephen Silva, Charter's senior vice president of corporate development and technology. "Charter's profile in the past has been very consistent. We do research. We trial to validate the assumptions of our business models. Then we pull the trigger to deploy. It will be running in two major markets by year end."

For now, the service is being tested in Charter's labs and with selected employees "and you'll start to see it going to friendlies or free trial customer homes in the next 30 to 60 days," Silva predicted.

Charter has a mixed hardware base, thus it will use both Motorola DCT-5000 and Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 6000 digital boxes for the interactive rollout.

The interactive launch will include both "walled garden" applications, such as local information and Web access via the TV, Silva said.

The Charter deal marked a milestone for Liberate in the U.S. market, said David Limp, the company's executive vice president and chief strategy officer.

"Announcements in the past … have always been around we may get to a pilot at some point," said Limp. "The good news is we're already under way with a pilot in St. Louis … and we have goals to get this stuff out into the market."

Liberate, he said, has "seen that a lot in Europe, but we haven't seen somebody step up with that kind of commitment in the U.S."