Thread,
Intel making some moves:
Intel Enters DSL Market
(01/07/00, 12:51 p.m. ET) By Mark LaPedus, Electronic Buyers' News
Intel has entered the DSL market with a modem based on a chip set from GlobeSpan, and plans to drive deeper into the sector later this year with its own DSL silicon.
The PRO/DSL 3100 high-speed digital modem is geared for the consumer and small business markets, and supports both full-rate ADSL and G.Lite protocols, according to Chad Taggard, business unit manager at Intel's Broadband Access Operation.
ADSL is a high-speed digital modem technology that transports data at speeds up to 8 megabits per second. G.Lite is a stripped-down, consumer-oriented version of ADSL said to transport data at 1.5 Mbits/s.
"When you talk to the phone companies, they want [OEMs and chip makers] to support both standards," Taggard said.
The modem represents Intel's latest entry in the booming communications sector, although the company's broader DSL strategy is still shrouded in mystery. Taggard said the modem uses a chip set from GlobeSpan, Red Bank, N.J., but in the future, the company also plans to use third-party DSL ICs from Analog Devices.
And Intel's DSL chip relationship with Analog Devices and GlobeSpan is likely to be only on an interim basis, according to analysts. This year, the Santa Clara, Calif., company is expected to roll out its own DSL chip -- a move that would put it in yet another new and booming communications IC market.
Taggard said the company is developing its own DSL chip set line, but he declined to comment further.
"We're progressing in our development plans," he said. "Right now, we're using third-party chip sets to reduce our time to market."
Though Intel is designing a proprietary chip set, some analysts speculate that the company could also buy its way into the DSL chip market via an acquisition. Intel already owns small equity stakes in two competitive DSL chip makers, including GlobeSpan and Integrated Telecom Express.
And Intel is no stranger to acquisitions, especially in the communications IC space. Last year, it spent billions to acquire several major communications chip makers, including DSP Communications, Level One Communications, NetBoost, Softcom Microsystems, and Stanford Telecommunications' cable modem IC operations.
Intel's DSL modem will begin shipping next month at a suggested retail price of $295.
http//www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000107S0003 |
