Time Warner Inc has announced plans to launch Road Runner, its high-speed broadband online service in Portland, Maine and San Diego, California during the first quarter of 1997. Time Warner has selected Toshiba America Inc to provide both the digital system and all systems integration. Toshiba said it was supplying a complete on-line cable data system to the US media and entertainment company, consisting of a head-end including the switch and the client-server computer at the cable station as well as distribution hubs and cable modems at the subscriber’s home. The Portland deployment will be the first to use the new Toshiba cable modem, making this the first total, end-to-end Toshiba system. In San Diego Time, Warner and Toshiba jointly decided to build an integrated plant with Toshiba serving as the system integrator and Motorola Inc providing the cable modem. Road Runner first appeared in September in Akron, Ohio (CI No 2,995).
