Grundig AG will supply the set-top boxes for Deutsche Telekom AG’s Nuremburg video-on-demand trial that is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter, despite widely publicised political and technical delays (CI No 2,662). Grundig said it could not say who would supply the decoder and de-multiplexer for the set-tops although the Motorola Inc 68000 family, or conceivably PowerPC, are the most likely: the boxes will use Microware Systems Corp’s OS-9 interactive digital audio visual operating system. The company said it is likely to use Oracle Corp’s Media Server although a final decision has not yet been made. Video-on-demand services will be offered initially to 1,000 customers over Deutsche Telekom’s existing broadband network as well as through additional Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop connections. Another 100 customers will also participate in home banking and home shopping trials. The Nuremberg trial is one of six video-on-demand trials that have suffered delays – others include Stuttgart, Hamburg, Cologne, Bonn and Leipzig. The Stuttgart pilot, which is claimed to be the biggest in Europe with 4,000 participants, has been put back from last second quarter to the end of the year. Failure to upgrade the network in time, coupled with a lack of much-need European subsidies – why should European taxpayers subsidise a vast, bloated, inefficient job-preservation scheme? – has been blamed for the delays that have caused some embarrassment for Telekom which will be asking investors to buy its shares next year following privatisation. Overall the state monopoly is investing $57.8m in pilot projects across Germany on top of any network upgrade.
