While DSL technology has steadily improved resulting in an increased distance from the CO and increased bandwidth, for instance, ADSL2+ has 25Mbps downstream, the news about coax cable improving its throughput has been notably absent - until now. The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is announcing the successful results of its large-scale field trial at the National Show (see release below).

Conducted by MoCA's founders in 15 cities, the trial validated performance of 100 Mbps in real world condition over typical coax cable. Most highspeed broadband solutions over coax solutions, such as Charter's High Speed Internet max out at 3Mbps or roughly 33X times slower than MoCA. These results evidence MoCA's capabilities as both the highest-speed technology for home networking, and according to MoCA's founders, the only technology field-proven to be capable of transporting multiple HDTV streams.

MoCA's founders are Comcast, EchoStar, Entropic Communications, Motorola, Cisco/Linksys, Panasonic, Radio Shack, and Toshiba.

Here's the release:

MoCA Concludes Successful Field Trials for Home Networking of Digital Entertainment Using Coax

-- Large-scale tests validate performance of 100 Mbps in real world conditions

San Francisco, CA-April 4, 2005- Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) today announced a major step forward with the completion of successful field trials of the core technology to provide networking of digital home entertainment throughout the home on existing coax cabling in cable homes at NCTA - The National Show (Booth 6490 - CableNET). The field trials showed MoCA technology consistently delivered 100 Mbps of usable throughput under real world conditions throughout the home.

The large-scale trial, conducted by MoCA's founders in multiple locations, validated the capabilities of the MoCA technology as both the highest-speed home networking backbone technology and the only one shown in a large-scale field trial as being capable of transporting multiple streams of HDTV. In fact, these results show that even under field conditions, a MoCA network is significantly faster than the stated speed of many competing technologies under favorable lab conditions.

"The field trials demonstrated the MoCA technology provides a tremendous avenue for distribution of digital entertainment and broadband data throughout the home," said Yoshiaki Hirao, Director of Panasonic AVC Liaison Office.

Tests also showed that the core technology provides the level of performance necessary to deliver digital entertainment to every coax outlet in the home, with at least 100 Mbps throughput being delivered to 95% of coax jacks tested. The stringent level of testing makes sure that the high speeds delivered by a MoCA home network are consistently available throughout the home.

"We are pleased with the performance of MoCA technology under the real world conditions found in homes across the USA," stated Carl Vassia, Senior Director, Product Management, Consumer Entertainment Solutions, Motorola Broadband Communications Sector.

MoCA founding members performed multiple tests in over 200 homes and multi-unit dwellings to validate the MoCA technology will meet the requirements set in the Market Requirements Document approved by the MoCA Board of Directors. Entropic Communications' c.LINK technology, the core technology behind the emerging MoCA standard, was used in the field trials.

"The success of the field trials showed the MoCA technology will support the type of advanced digital entertainment services the cable industry envisions for the future," said Mark Francisco, Senior Director of Advanced Technology Products, Comcast New Media Development.

With the completion of the field trial, MoCA will now focus on finalizing technical specifications and a certification process for MoCA products.

"This large-scale field trial demonstrates that MoCA technology can deliver high quality digital entertainment throughout the home in real world conditions," said Ladd Wardani, President of MoCA. "The ultimate beneficiaries of this effort are the product developers, service providers, and end-users who can embrace the MoCA technology with confidence."

MoCA technology was developed from the ground up to address the key requirements for networking digital entertainment: high throughput, quality of service, security, and ease of use.By tapping into the vast amount of unused bandwidth available on coaxial cables installed within homes, MoCA's technology is the only one that can deliver multiple simultaneous streams of HD and DVD quality digital entertainment and high speed data to consumers without glitches or freezes. These field trials evidence the technology's ability to meet these important standards.

MoCA was founded in 2004 by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Comcast (NASDAQ:
CMCSA, CMCSK), EchoStar (NASDAQ: DISH), Entropic Communications, Motorola
(NYSE: MOT), Panasonic (NYSE: MC), Radio Shack (NYSE: RSH), and Toshiba.
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About MoCA
The Multimedia over Coax Alliance was formed to provide the solution for home networking digital entertainment without compromise. The mission of the alliance is to develop industry specifications and interoperability certification for delivering high bandwidth digital content over in-home coaxial cables. For more information on MoCA, please see www.mocalliance.org.