Thomson SA’s Thomson Multimedia unit has put itself even further ahead as the leader in digital television decoders with a three-year $1,000m contract from US consortium Tele-TV, made up of Bell Atlantic Corp, Nynex Corp and Pacific Telesis Group Inc. The consortium ordered 3m of Thomson’s Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System decoders, which operate via microwaves that are captured by small parabolic antennae – with this cordless cable, digital television will no longer be simply the monopoly of cable or of satellite, said Thomson Multimedia chief executive, Alain Prestat. Thomson has already sold more than 1m decoders in the US for satellite digital television. Prestat would not reveal the names of the other finalists for the deal. The Tele-TV dig ital system, which will enable broadcast of 100-odd channels, concerns directly between 40% to 50% of US telephone subscribers. The entry of the telephone companies into digital television is a major revolution, Prestat told Les Echos. He added that the order constitutes the biggest digital television deal in the world. The paper reported that Thomson would be customising the decoder and also developing the infrastructure for Tele-TV at its technology centre in Indianapolis, and would probably manufacture the decoders in Juarez, Mexico.
