News on SBC:
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SBC to expand Calif. high-speed Internet service
Reuters Story - November 16, 1998 20:43
NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. plans to expand its existing high-speed Internet service in California next year, SBC chairman Ed Whitacre said Monday.
The service, which uses a technology known as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), allows local phone service providers such as SBC to deliver near-instantaneous Internet access over standard phone lines.
"We're poised to make a large announcement in California, putting ADSL in front of a million customers," Whitacre told investors at the Warburg Dillon Read Telecom Conference in New York.
Whitacre said revenues per customer for ADSL service would be about $50 to $60 a month, or more than double the rate customers pay for slower speed, so-called "dial up" access, that is the primary way computers users link to the Internet.
Separately, Whitacre said his company was "very, very interested" in potential investments in cellular properties, responding to a question about whether it would consider adding additional cellular properties.
Whitacre said SBC's existing wireless operations continue to grow despite competition and margins continue to remain strong.
((New York Newsdesk (212) 859-1700))
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And more from Cable & Wireless:
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November 17, 1998 <Picture>
Tech Center
Cable & Wireless Plans
High-Speed Data Network
By GAUTAM NAIK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
LONDON -- Cable & Wireless PLC confirmed plans to build a high-speed network for voice and data linking 40 European cities in 13 countries.
The goal is to provide high-speed Internet and other data services to corporate customers. The company expects to spend about $450 million in the first two years of the project; it will spend an additional $550 million over the following three years.
In London trading Monday, Cable & Wireless stock rose 3.5% to close at 688 pence ($11.45), an increase of 23 pence.
Unlike older phone networks that are slow and mainly built to carry voice calls, the new system will use Internet technology to transmit data at high speed. Eventually, the European leg of the network will connect, via undersea cables, to Cable & Wireless's Internet assets in the U.S. The British carrier recently acquired those assets from MCI Communications Corp. for $1.75 billion. Cable & Wireless already owns a network in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.
"What we're doing is creating a global high-speed network," said Stephen Pettit, executive director of Cable & Wireless's Global Businesses unit. "The European element is a key part of that jigsaw."
Other companies have similar ideas. WorldCom Inc. has a high-speed network in Europe that links to its U.S. operations. British Telecommunications PLC and smaller firms like Esprit Telecom Group PLC also are building pan-European networks.
Like many of its rivals, Cable & Wireless won't be laying its own fiber-optic cables. Instead, it will buy capacity from existing carriers. Once the "dark fiber" is acquired, Cable & Wireless will add the electronics and make the system operational.
The British carrier will buy its first chunk of capacity from Hermes Europe Railtel, a venture between Global TeleSystems Group of the U.S. and two European railways. That portion of the network will connect 10 European cities and become operational in the first quarter of 1999.
Cable & Wireless will separately spend $100 million to acquire 7,200 kilometers of additional high-speed links from a Los Angeles-based company, Global Crossing Ltd., which is building its own global fiber-optic system. That portion of the network will carry five million simultaneous phone calls, and is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of next year, Cable & Wireless said.
The company also plans to set up shop in Frankfurt and Duesseldorf this year, offering voice and data services to German businesses. The overall $1 billion investment over five years could create more than 1,000 European jobs, Cable & Wireless said.
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