command from the network operator via an SNMP command and a TFTP file transfer of the new software image. The upgrade process can fail at virtually any point without leaving the cable modem unusable. The cable modem makes several checks of the new file to ensure that it is intended for that particular make and model of cable modem, since several different makes and models of cable modem may be operating on a single network. There is an MD5 checksum on the new code image that is used to ensure that it has not been corrupted in transmission. Despite the broad acceptance of DOCSIS in the US, the European community did not adopt it as is. It did adopt what has become known as EuroDOCSIS, which offers a 33% wider downstream channel. Despite access to 65 million homes, cable providers initially had little entry to business market. Having since dropped fiber lines, they are now also formidable competitors in outside of consumer markets. Moreover, given that DOCSIS 2.0 was designed to accommodate videoconferencing, cable providers may comprise the best platform for providing wireline-based video communication. HDTV and DTV The United States' commitment to Digital TV and the strength of its own semiconductor and computer technology stymied it ability to deploy HDTV. The United States, was the first nation to support digital high-definition technology, but was the last to broadcast HDTV. Europe shipped its Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standards for satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasts years before the US. DVB is not high-definition, but the MPEG2-based technology was deployed while the US squabbled about digital HTDV. Meanwhile, Japan was broadcasting 13 hours of its analog (not digital) Hi-Vision programs every day by 1996. Japan significantly lowered the cost of its High-Definition TV equipment and quietly developed a digital replacement. By the end of 1999, Japanese consumers bought more than 746,000 Hi- Vision receivers. The FCC reserved an extra 6 MHz of spectrum for HDTV and Standard Definition TV (SDTV), 