Louisville, Co, June 28, 1995—The International Telecommunications Union study group responsible for setting world standards in cable television has adopted three regional transmission standards employing the 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) approach for digital television deployment by cable television internationally.The 64 QAM standards were recommended by cable industries in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

The unanimous action came at the spring meeting of Study Group 9.The Working Party of Study Group 9 that prepared the recommendations is chaired by Dr. Richard R. Green, president and CEO of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs®).The group also approved the evolution of the North American digital transmission standard for cable to higher orders of modulation.

Recent field experimentation using a 64 QAM receiver with equalization was carried out in Japan where quasi error-free operation with this modulation format was confirmed.

"This is a very important step for the cable industry in North America," said Green. "It marks the first time that the ITU has enacted a standard for cable transmission.It improves the position in the worldwide marketplace for North American equipment companies and cable operators," he indicated.

Representing the United States at this meeting were Laurence A. Young of Ameritech, Charles J. Sindelar and Richard Citta of Zenith Electronics, and Dr. Richard Prodan and Claude T. Baggett both of CableLabs®. Representing the U.S. State Department was Mr. John B. Hitchcock from the U.S. Geneva mission.

CableLabs® is a research and development consortium of cable television system operators representing more than 85% of the cable subscribers in the United States, 75% of the subscribers in Canada, and 5-10% of cable subscribers in Mexico. CableLabs® performs cable research and development projects, transfers relevant technologies to member companies, and serves as a clearinghouse to provide information on current and prospective technology.

About CableLabs: Cable Television Laboratories (www.cablelabs.com) was founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry. A non-profit research and development consortium, CableLabs delivers innovations that enable cable operators to be the providers of choice in their markets. Cable operators from around the world are members. CableLabs maintains web sites at www.cablelabs.com; www.packetcable.com; www.cablemodem.com; www.cablenet.org, and www.opencable.com.

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