re: copper chariots and prehistoric human parts
Raymond, good show. While QB does the last (or was that the first?) mile, another firm which I recently posted on [not sure if it was here or in another forum on the 'net] is focusing on fiber at the in-building level - a startup in Ireland called Blaze Networks.
I must make it a point to analyze both of their products at one point, and determine whether Blaze and Quantum manufacture to the same rail gauge (channel grid). No, I'm not taking any bets at this time, but if I were...
RE: Copper cages...
Kinbush is echoing one of George's favorite metaphors: The Copper Cage, a.k.a., the DS-0 Cage.
I have found myself echoing this term myself from time to time, but at some point this comparison can be both overdone, and impertinent. In this case, it was an inappropriate tool for comparison, IMO, when you stop to consider the follow-on statement that was made. Nevertheless, I did find the passage by Kinbush to be very entertaining reading, too.
The follow on statement was:
"This story made me think of the difference of approach in business growth between the AT&Ts of the world and the GBLXs of the world."
At which point I am compelled to ask: What is it that GBLX is doing that T didn't do years ago, from a technological rail-gauge setting perspective? GBLX is packaging its bits in the same SONET containers as T does. Worse, they have to package to the Europeans' SDH on the other side of the pond, as well. SONET, and SDH, neither one of which were invented by GBLX, in fact, was not T's sole doing. It was a series of compromises, decisions at the then CCITT level, after other forms of optical formats were scuttled, and still others had to be taken into account in order to arrive at interoperability. At some point up into their respective hierarchies, both the SONET and SDH meet and become interoperable... so the story goes, at the OC3 or STM 1 level of 155 Mb/s. But I digress.
GBLX is using DWDMs manufactured by one of T's spinoffs. They are also using, or plan to use soon, the OpticAir Link device that runs at infrared wavelengths, which also packages bits in SONET containers, and is made by the same spinoff: LU.
When they get their high capacity stuff beyond the landing points, both here and overseas, the only way that they can sell it is to repackage it into copper cage denominations, or at best, in SONET containers... which are, themselves, the grown up descendents of the copper cagers.
This ought to change soon, at some point, but when it does T and the other elephants will be there, too.
So, why do I like GBLX? Couple of reasons, aside from the fact that I know some of the principals from another life.
They have shown chutzpa and courage (okay, albeit with other peoples' monies), breaking new ground on a scale that would have [and did] scared the dickens out of the incumbent long haul providers, just a year or two ago. Why do I say it would have scared the dickens out of them? Because of the disruptive effect that moving forward with massive amounts of bandwidth beneath the seas has had on the world order, from a telecomms perspective. Nothing short of that.
But is GBLX "innovating" beyond the scope of what a WCOM or a T can do when it comes to technology breakthroughs, as characterized by cages made of materials other than copper? Not at all. And here's why:
The basic SONET frame, which is still the building block of most of GBLX's and everyone else's flows, is still a T3 Frame with overhead for surveillance and signaling. When you put the overhead on top of the T3 you have an OC-1 SONET Frame.
The T3 frame is still a bundle made up of 28 T1s.
The T1 is still a bundle made up of 24 voice channels, each one of them rated at 64 kb/s.
The 64 kb/s voice channel rate can be traced back to the digital word encoding that was settled on to approximate the commercial quality range requirements of the human ear, back in the Sixties, when digital T carrier systems were first introduced.
The ear? Well, I guess you'll have to go back to an era some time before the Romans, for that one.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
