B28 - Wednesday, May 9, 1984 - North Shore News VIDEODISCS TO CONTINUE, BUT... RCA phasing out videodisc players RCA CORPORATION an- nounced plans this week to phase out the manufacturing and marketing of its videodisc player throughout 1984 while continuing to press and distribute video discs. The decision was made by RCA Corporation with ‘‘ob- vious disappointment in the face of continuing losses and Narrowing prospects that the business would turn profitable’’. Declining retail price levels for VCRs and prerecorded tapes (markets in which RCA also participates). plus the continued growth of tap ren- tal, necessitated very low price levels for videodisc players and discs. The pressure of pricing competi- . tion from other video pro- ducts, particularly the video cassette recorder, overcame RCA’s ability to reduce manufacturing costs for the ‘CED’ system. Although consumer satisfaction is high and the volume is growing al current low price levels, the company decided it is growing too slowly. Between 30,000 and 35,000 videodisc players have been sold in Canada since the introduction of the product | in 1981. A further factor been alone in carrying the market burden necessary to generate volume in a time when it has become increas- ingly difficult for any com- Pany to introduce an sustain a new product on its own. Margins were insufficient, even at high volume, to State of the art submarine cable PACIFIC RIM trade is in- creasingly important to Brit- sih Columbia’s economy, and quality communications helps to facilitate trade. Now, B.C. Tel has provided part of a new communcations system that links Canada with Pacific Rim countries. The link is the ANZCAN submarine cable, connecting Port Alberni with Australia and New Zealand via Hawaii, a distance of 15,000 kilometres. The section to Hawaii was opened September 1, 1983, and the remainder will be ready for service by September 1984. The ANZCAN cable offers B.C. Tel customers state-of- the-art transmission quality and greater calling capacity for their Pacific Rim communications. The half-a-billion-dollar cable is a joint project of Teleglobe Canada, a federal Crown corporation responsi- ble for Canada’s overseas telecommunications, and 13 other signatories, including the telephone authorities of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The new Teleglobe facilities at Port Alberni are expected to handle approx. imately half of Canada’s voice and message traffic with Pacific region countries as well as ao substantial amount of transit traffic bet ween the region and Europe The sotal Canadian content in the ANZCAN ) project amounts ot $60-milllon B.C. Tel's basic contribu von to ANZCAN was to sup- ply aosmulti-milhon-doilar microwave radio link This system connects Teleglobe's Port Alberns cable terminal station with Teleglobe’s swit- ching office in) Burnaby. There arc four microwave repeaters connecting the two centres at Mount Horne, Parksville and Wellington on Vancouver Island, and at Mount Gardner, the highest point on Bowen Island in Howe Sound \ The B¢ Tel microwave tadio route was built to the highest: technical standards The capaciy 2,000 vorce giving the route the largest capacity of any in the B ¢ Tel microwave network Ww Over Chraurts. It took about PE months to compicte the project One challenging aspect of the project was the creation of a new site atop Mount Gardner — new buildings, tower, and radio equipment. The only access possible to the top of the mountain is by helicopter — or by a crude footpath. Hal Linburg, a B.C. Tel radio engineer,’ explained that all the equipment for the microwave radio repeater had to be lifted to the top of the mountain using a specialized helicopter with a capaicty of over 7000 Ibs. Upon arrival at the site, the power and equipment buildings and a_ 10-metre tower were lowered on to their prepared foundations. The microwave antennas were mounted on the tower and the on-site installation work was then quickly completed. Normally, Linburg says, the facility runs on power supplied by B.C. Hydro. Asa back-up, the power butiding has a diesel engine, fuel tanks and batteries. Once a year fuel is airlifted to the site If visibility is restricted because of poor weather, the only ac cess to the station is by an hour's hike up the footpath from the end of the road BC. Tel’s manutacturing subsidiary, Microtel, sup phed $1.3-milhon worth ot multiplexing equipment tor the ANZCAN cable Become a Friend of BC's Children's Hospital. Please write to us at 4480 Oak Street Vancouver B¢ VoH 3V4 abs RY a) é in the. decision was that RCA had /— | sustify the continued commit- mentt-of resources. The decision is not a reflec- tion on either the basic CED technology nor on _ the technical, manufacturing and marketing people involved. _ The restructuring will involve the phase down of RCA videodisc player manufactur- ing and an orderly transition out of active player marketing over the balance i alge of 1984. Parts and service for the player will continue to be provided in the years ahead. Disc pressing operations will continue to RCA’s plant in Indianapolis, Ind., for three years or as long as reasonable demand con- tinues. The disc plant sup- plies product for the RCA, RCA-Columbia and other labels involved in the CED disc business. 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