Lucent Launches Broadband Video Venture

Lucent Technologiesto assemble the first video network designed solely for the Internet, network equipment giant <%=company%> (Murray Hill, NJ) has formed a new venture called GeoVideo Networks Inc. The company will deliver up to high definition television (HDTV)-quality, real-time bidirectional Internet protocol (IP) video over an international fiber network. The new venture plans a host of business-to-business Internet video applications targeted at the financial, medical, government, news, and entertainment industries enabling any standard business LAN to offer secure, private video communications directly to the desktop

The GeoVideo Browser will provide 30 frames per second video with high-quality 48 kHz stereo audio and a total of 16 individual video windows that can be manipulated simultaneously on the desktop. GeoVideo Networks will store customer content, ranging from full-length feature films to corporate training material, for a monthly fee. In addition, the company will provide videoconferencing services and high-speed video transfer services.

GeoVideo Networks will also serve consumer applications, including video-on-demand and electronic cinema, in the near future. Standard definition and HDTV video, both streamed and stored, will be supported.

Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (White Plains, NY) will supply the metropolitan and the long-haul optical network infrastructure, and its AboveNet (San Jose, CA) subsidiary will supply global IP services to GeoVideo Networks, which will develop video hubs in key markets throughout the world. The GeoVideo Network will support optical speeds of OC-3 (155.5 Mbps) to OC-192 (9.95 Gbps), and beyond, and will also support T-1 (1.5 Mbps), T-3 (45 Mbps), and digital subscriber line configurations.

GeoVideo Networks plans to have a presence in more than 60 markets worldwide within the next five years. Its first year rollout in the United States will encompass New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Dallas. London will be the site of its first international network hub.

Edited by John Spofford