Frank:
Don't give up hope just yet-
In 1996, @Home was predicting it would have 1 million subscribers by 1997. And almost precisely a year ago, with @Home lagging, TCI issued a new bunch of projections. Among them, a vow to have most or all of its projected 23 million subscriber homes on cable modems in 2000. With the cable industry struggling to keep up with its own promises, phone companies Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, SBC Communications, Sprint and others announced in January a push to make asynchronous digital subscriber lines (ADSL) widely available by the end of this year. The campaign, which includes usual suspects Microsoft and Intel as well as Compaq, has the same goal as the new cable-modem initiative: to win consumer hearts and minds with promises of easy access to high-speed Net connections.
The ADSL effort clearly spurred the cable industry's announcement today.
"It's a battle for mindshare," said Robert Davenport, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Tele-Communications' TCI.NET.
Source: wired.com |
