[ RTR Wire] Alcatel January 20, 1997 15:43
**** a little more Pac Bell *** ??
Pacific Bell to roll out ADSL
Reuters Story - January 20, 1997 15:43
FINANCIAL US TEL PAC FON INTC SBC V%REUTER P%RTR
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LA QUINTA, Calif., Jan 20 (Reuter) - Pacific Bell CEO David
Dorman said the company will launch Asynchronous Digital
Subscriber Loop (ADSL) at ten of its central offices starting
in September, with full rollout planned in 1998.
ADSL is a method of improving the speed of data-intensive
signals such as video over ordinary copper telephone lines, and
can be used in the future for accessing the Internet at far
faster speeds than now possible over standard lines.
Dorman said in a keynote address to the Upside Technology
Summit here that the service will be available initially for
telecommunters wanting access to their corporate networks using ADSL for roughly $100 a month.
Dorman said the actual price for the service will likely be
somewhere within $25 of the $100 level. Access out to the
Internet global network will cost more, he added, and might be
structured similarly to its current $49.95 ISDN package.
Pacific Bell, which is a unit of Pacific Telesis Group, is
currently weighing whether or not Internet access should be
offered on top of the ASDL capability on a flat fee basis, or
on a usage basis, or a combination of both.
Dorman said the company plans to have services out in
September this year in selected areas, with full-scale
introduction in January 1998.
The PacBell ASDL service will provide capacity incoming to
the home at 1.5 megabits, or million bits, of data per second
and and outbound traffic of 384 kilobits. Current phone lines
are capable of providing speeds of 28.8 or 33.3 kilobits --
with 56 kilobit technologies arriving this quarter.
Dorman noted the pricing of ASDL will be substantially
cheaper than the same sort of inbound capacity on a T1 line
currently, which costs some $300 to $600 a month.
He also said Pacific Bell has stopped promoting ISDN
(Integrated Digital Services Network) service, although it is
still providing it, following opposition to a rate increase
from the $21.50 it was initially allowed to charge.
Dorman, who became president and chief executive of Pacific
Bell in 1994 after rising to executive levels of Sprint Corp
, told Reuters after the address that the company may
consider grandfathering existing ISDN subscribers and stopping
any new installations if the opposition to rate increases
continues before the Public Utilities Commission.
Specifically, he singled out the strong opposition of Intel
Corp to the proposed increase, saying the telephone
company will not continue to provide services when it cannot
produce returns on investment.
"I'm not giving up," he said, but added that talks with
Intel had apparently not resulted in any change in its stance.
"ISDN is a nice intermediate step, but 128 kilobits is not
enough," he added, saying ADSL would be an improvement.
Alcatel will supply the ASDL modem devices, he added.
Dorman was optimistic about the Public Utilities
Commission's review of its proposed merger with SBC
Communications and April 1 continues to be the target
date for completion of the deal.
Dorman declined to comment specifically on the company's
fourth quarter and full-year 1996 results, due to be issued on
Tuesday morning, but said "1996 was a good year for Pacific
Bell."
--sam.perryreuters.com, Palo Alto Bureau +1415 846 5400 |
