Bertelsmann Working On Broadband Solutions

Media giant Bertelsmann is intensifying its commitment in the area of
broad band applications over TCP/IP.

A further step is high-speed Internet access, which is being realised by the Bertelsmann Internet
provider unit Mediaways, together with the Bertelsmann Broadband Group, a
team specialized in finding new content delivery solutions.

Discussions are currently taking place with cable companies and network
operators, states the company, concerning the use of re-equipped television
cable nets for data traffic. The hope is that in comparision to a normal
analogue connection, data speed will be increased by 30 to 100 times over
the “last mile”.

Mediaways company director Bernhard Ribbrock wants to bring all the forms of
present day communication on to an uniform basis, the internet protocol.
“All Over IP” is the philosophy, he says.

The first results will be presented at CeBIT 2000, the German IT trade fair. An interactive
television program by the Broadband Group will be shown, and the Bertelsmann
company Pixelpark will
also be involved in the technical realization of the project.

The new
program will first be tested in ten German cities.