OTHER TECH

Some cable operators are already delivering HDTV channels, while others like AT&T and Cablevision have been experimenting with high-def. Pricing and channel lineups vary quite a bit from city to city, but then, so does analog cable service.

TIME WARNER With 12.8 million subscribers nationwide, TWC has only about 60,000 homes hooked up with HDTV-capable set-top boxes. That number should double by the end of this year, however, according to Mark Harrad, vice president of corporate communications. Besides New York City, TWC is providing HDTV service in Orlando and Tampa Bay, Florida; Milwaukee; Raleigh and Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Houston.

In Houston, for example, a Motorola-made HDD200 "sidecar" that rents for $5 a month attaches to the cable box. The module tunes in five local digital affiliates of the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS) and four premium channels (East and West Coast feeds of HBO-HD and Showtime-HD). The HBO and Showtime subscriptions are $12.48 each for both feeds. Figure about $77 a month for everything, including your regular cable channels.

COMCAST In Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware, Comcast charges $11 a month to rent the same Motorola high-def sidecar, on top of whatever you pay for basic cable and premium channels. The high-def channels are ABC, NBC, PBS, HBO, and Showtime (CBS is not included). In an unusual policy for cable, Comcast will let you buy the HDTV sidecar for $300 instead of renting it.

CHARTER launched its Charter High Definition Service in five areas earlier this year: Alhambra/Pasadena and Glendale/Burbank, California; University Park/Highland Park, Texas; Miami Beach, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama. All use the same Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3100HD set-top box described in the main article. Charter also expected to begin high-def service in St. Louis and in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in September using the Motorola CDT-5100 set-top box. It'll cost from $10 to $20 a month to lease the box, depending on the city.

COX provides seven HDTV channels in Las Vegas via the 3100HD (rented for $10.15 more a month than the standard box). CBS and PBS are free, two HBO and two Showtime channels are available to premium subscribers, and Discovery High Definition Theater is $5 more a month.

According to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the ten largest cable operators are committed to have agreements in place with program suppliers like HBO and Showtime and broadcasters like CBS for up to five HDTV channels by January 1, 2003. However, there's no guarantee you'll be able to receive high-def channels by then. - M.A.