Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Can cable handle HDTV?

Consumers are buying HDTVs in larger numbers than ever, and they love what they see, right? Maybe not, if they're cable subscribers. HD needs a big pipe to bring you that crystal clear picture, which has cable operators scrambling to find the bandwidth to accomodate the future of TV. But their solutions might just give subscribers headaches. Full story from USA Today.

So as usual, we ask the question: what does it mean for multifamily? Well, think about it... the cable providers' issues are multiplied several hundred-fold in a typical community. Not only do they have to provide enough bandwidth to enable one subscriber to enjoy that new LCD screen, they have to do it over several hundred units. I'm not saying they won't be able to do it - the technology is improving all the time. But if you're going into a new deal with the local franchise, you should be careful to make sure that your residents will be getting all the channels and services that they expect. USA Today does a good job of covering most of the issues here, but there's a lot more for us to cover in terms of satellite and digital TV as they relate to apartments. Stay tuned...

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