Internet-over-cable provider @Home Network Inc has got together with software distribution technology firm Arepa Inc to deliver CD-ROM titles over @Home’s broadband network. The two companies have been developing protocols and other technology for about a year to deliver the titles to @Home subscribers, which they hope will finally realize the promise of online software distribution that would not be possible over narrowband or dial-up networks. As part of the alliance, Nasdaq- traded @Home has received unspecified warrants in privately-held Arepa. Arepa claims to have deals with the top ten publishers of CD-ROM titles plus a few more, but declined to name names just yet. The Cambridge, Massachusetts company has been developing its content platform specifically for broadband networks for two years. It encodes the CD-ROM and converts it into a proprietary format and then delivers it to the user via the Rapid Access File Transfer (RAFT) protocol that the two companies developed. The content does not reside on the user’s computer; it remains on a server at the cable head-end, but Arepa claims the access speed for the user will be similar to that of local storage. Users get a key to access the content from something called the conditional access server. They can pay for it via credit card or through @Home’s billing system, so it will appear on their bill in much the same way that pay-per-view movies appear on cable bills at present. The pair are also examining other electronic payment systems before the system rolls out, which is still a way off. Trials will be conducted to test both the technology and the marketing and pricing of it the third and fourth quarters, with roll out coming in the first quarter of next year.
