US 5,410,343 · Granted 1995-04-25

The 1995 Patent That First Imagined Netflix Over Your Phone Line

Bell Atlantic figured out how to squeeze movies through regular telephone wires straight to your home using something called ADSL technology. Instead of going to a video store, you'd order a film through your phone line and it would show up on your TV — basically the ancestor of streaming services, but using 1990s telephone infrastructure.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system where a telephone network company uses special ADSL equipment to send digital video signals over existing phone lines to homes, while also letting those same lines carry voice calls at the same time. What's protected here is the specific method of splitting video and voice data on the same wire and letting customers send control signals back to request or manage what they're watching.

Why it matters

This patent captures an early vision of video-on-demand delivered through infrastructure that already existed in millions of homes. While Bell Atlantic's specific system never became the dominant technology — the internet and broadband eventually won out — this patent represents a crucial moment when telephone companies first imagined competing with cable TV by turning phone lines into entertainment delivery systems. It shows how legacy telecom assets were being repurposed for the digital era.

Real-world use

If you'd lived in a Bell Atlantic service area in the mid-1990s, you might have seen ads for ordering movies through your phone connection without leaving home, though widespread adoption never materialized before the internet changed everything.

Original USPTO abstract

A public switched telephone network (PSTN) provides digital video signals from a video information provider or digital service bureau to one or more of a plurality of subscriber premises. Administration of orders from subscribers is carried out by a video gateway and file servers at the central office. Asymmetrical digital subscriber line interface (ADSL) units over a local loop carry the necessary signalling between the subscribers and information providers. The interface units frequency multiplex digital video information with voice information to the subscriber and support transmission of a reverse control channel from the subscriber to the central office for transmission back to the information provider. Several enhancements and special features are disclosed.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,410,343
Filing date: 1993-04-02
Grant date: 1995-04-25
Assignee: Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc.
Inventor(s): CODDINGTON; CARL D., CRAIG; BERNARD J., LITTERAL; LARRY A., RICHARD, III; ARTHUR A., GOLD; JEFFREY B., KLIKA, JR.; DONALD C., KONKLE; DANIEL B., MCHENRY; JAMES M.
CPC class: H04N21/47202

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