Videoconferencing to lose "the jerk".

FVC.com technology promises high-quality two-way video communications over public networks. High-quality two-way video communications on demand seems ready to hit public telephone networks. FVC.com plans to provide technology that it has used for four years to create high-quality videoconferencing on private networks to public communications carriers. That will allow phone companies to offer smooth, high-speed video communications to their customers at any time, and help them sell broadband connections that will be needed as well. Top carriers - AT&T, BELL Atlantic, British Telecommunications, France Telecom, MCI WorldCom, Optus, Qwest Communications International, Sprint, Telia and Telstra - from North America, Europe and Australia are testing the technology, FVC.com Chief Executive Richard Beyer said. FVC.com unveiled its carrier offering Tuesday. It expects high-quality video services to be available to businesses in a few months and to consumers within a year. Perey Research estimated that interactive video services could explode from a $6 billion business this year to $22 billion in 2003. The carriers_ interest reflects their thirst for fat applications to fill big and burgeoning pipes. Companies such as Qwest and Level 3 Communications have been laying out fiber networks capable of absorbing more phone traffic than is carried by all existing long-distance carriers today. FVC.com_s Web-based technology also should drive down the cost of video communications. Where 40 hours per month of video service now costs about $3,000, the company expects to chop that price to as little as $500 before 2001. Carriers can buy FVC.com equipment at a cost of $500,000 to $1 million to support 500 to 1,000 users in a niche or test market, or use FVC.com_s operations center and pay fees based on usage or customers. The center consists of Web portal servers; gatekeepers; multipoint conference hosting; and operations support systems - all connected to service provider networks with a network switch, to ISDN dial-up services through access gateways and to other centers with internal gateways. The technology also can be used to conduct business meetings, corporate communications, training and distance learning. That should expand over time to shopping, customer service, entertainment and other visual communications uses, FVC.com said.