NEC Corp has a BAX Series broadband access system for use with video-on-demand and other multimedia services for business and residential users. The BAX Series hardware and software is capable of accomodating broadband and narrowband services for homes and businesses served by conventional phone lines, and includes the BAX-300 optical network unit, which receives Asynchronous Transfer Mode signals, the BAX-2000 set-top box, and BAX 100 management system to manage network equipment. The optical network unit, with maximum transmission capacity of 50M-bits per second, receives Asynchronous Mode signals via optical fiber lines and then transmit them to the home via conventional phone lines. The set-top box displays video and other multimedia data on household television screens, and NEC says it expects to record $280m in sales of the various components in the next five years, but admits that it has not received any orders for it yet.
