Digital video and the national information infrastructure

This paper gives an overview of the efforts in the United States to build high-speed networks for the delivery of digital video services to the homes of consumers. It details the obstacles that need to be overcome for digital video service to commence and the various network architectures and technologies that have been, and presently are being considered. The applications are described that will be enabled by such an infrastructure, termed the NII, as are two digital video services oriented market trials — one being conducted by a cable operator and the second by a telephone company.