Atlanta-TV maker Curtis Mathes plans to open its proprietary online network to other vendors and become an Internet service provider for TV set-top units.

Company chairman Pat Custer said that within the next six or seven months, the Curtis Mathes Xpressway will be opened to other set-top box vendors. Curtis Mathes has spent two years creating the multimillion-dollar network for its line of Internet-ready devices.

The first such device, the uniView 210, was released last month. It is being sold in south Florida by BrandSmart U.S.A., in the Dallas area by Communication Expo and in California by Fry's Electronics.

Custer said the company created its own network so it could provide TV listings and faster Web service to its customers.

"TV viewers don't want to wait," Custer said. "Everything has to be quick."

Curtis Mathes created the Xpressway network, which covers 80 percent of the country, with help from MCI. Cisco provided the routers for the network; Sun Microsystems provided the servers; and Cyrris and Curtis Mathes jointly developed a 33.6K-bps modem for the uniView.

Tom O'Mara, vice president of sales and marketing for Curtis Mathes, said the company plans to expand distribution of the uniView 210 to other markets by July. He said the company hopes to ship 100,000 units by the end of the year.

Curtis Mathes also plans to introduce a 36-inch television with a built-in set- top box in the third quarter of this year. No pricing has been set, but a company spokesman said the product would likely be in the $2,000 range.

Source: Computer Retail Week