Minneapolis/Saint Paul 56K Article.
Published Saturday, April 12, 1997
A faster route to the Net
Steve Alexander / Star Tribune
Five Minnesota-based Internet service providers (ISPs) and two
out-of-state firms are believed to be the first to offer Twin Cities
customers Net access at twice the speed of 28,800-bit-per-second
modems.
The move puts the Twin Cities ISPs on the front lines of a marketing war
between the creators of two different modem technologies for
56,000-bit-per-second Internet connections, sometimes referred to as
56kb.
For both technologies, the higher 56kb speed applies only to information
downloaded from the Internet; e-mail and Internet page addresses sent by
the customer to the Internet use conventional modem speeds of about
28,800 bits per second.
Faster, costlier
Fishnet.com, a Minneapolis-based ISP that is offering the 56kb service,
said the service is aimed at businesses and consumers who want
high-speed access badly enough to buy 56kb modems that cost about four
times as much as a standard modem. ISPs also must buy the more
expensive modems.
"Our motivation is to attract people by having a faster modem," said Greg
Kenfield, fishnet.com's sales and marketing director.
Other Twin Cities ISPs offering the faster modem connection are
McDonagh Bros. and Sihope Communications, both of Minneapolis, US
Internet of Minnetonka, and Digital Advantage of St. Louis Park. In
addition, Web America Networks of Dallas and Smart World
Communications of Danbury, Conn., offer the service in the Twin Cities
via a local phone dial-up connection.
Thus far, the Twin Cities ISPs are using technology from Skokie,
Ill.-based U.S. Robotics, the only firm whose 56kb modems are widely
available. A competing modem technology developed by California-based
Rockwell International was delayed in March by technical problems,
creating at least a temporary advantage for the U.S. Robotics technology.
But the advantage may be short-lived. Rockwell said this week its technical
problems have been solved and that it is shipping its 56kb computer chips
to modem manufacturers who will compete with U.S. Robotics.
Meanwhile, many other ISPs serving the Twin Cities area are waiting to
see which technology wins, said Mike O'Connor, president of the
Minnesota Internet Services Trade Association (MISTA). Many local ISPs
already use equipment compatible with Rockwell's modem technology and
don't want to switch to a new technology unless they have to, he said.
ISDN costs more
The cost of faster Internet access comes in the form of more expensive
hardware, Kenfield said. Liz Meagher, a U.S. Robotics spokeswoman, said
the retail price of her firm's 56K modems ranges from $199 to $239. Twin
Cities retail stores today sell 33,600-bit-per-second modems, the standard
speed for today's new computers, for as little as $50.
But monthly fees for Internet service don't change for users of the
higher-speed technology, Kenfield said. Fishnet.com charges $14.95 for 10
hours of use a month, or $19.95 for 100 hours a month.
While 56kb connections are slower than another higher-speed solution
used by businesses, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) phone
lines, 56kb is cheaper.
In the Twin Cities metro area, ISDN speeds of up to 128,000 bits per
second cost $110 for installation and a a minimum of $39 a month plus per
minute charges. Other potential high-speed Internet access technologies,
such as XDSL (which includes several Digital Subscriber Line offerings)
from phone companies and cable modems from cable TV companies, have
yet to become widely available.
Kenfield said fishnet.com can accommodate as many as 156 simultaneous
users of the 56,000-bits-per-second service, which in reality is limited to
the slightly slower speed of 53,000 bits per second because of Federal
Communications Commission rules aimed at preventing electronic
interference on phone lines.
O'Connor said that, in practice, the real speed of 56kb modems is closer to
41,000 to 47,000 bits per second because of speed limitations related to
phone line quality. Even so, that's better than the 28,800 bits per second
possible with today's most widely used computer modems, he said.
A high-speed race
"Faster is always better, and 56kb modems do seem to work as
advertised," O'Connor said.
The new modem technology can be used only by ISPs that have a direct
digital link to the central phone call switching office, which in nearly all
cases in the Twin Cities is operated by U S West.
U.S. Robotics said such a digital link allows ISPs to pass information from
the Internet on to customers -- the process known as downloading -- at the
53kb speed.
Consumers or businesses cannot achieve the same high speed when they
send information to the Internet -- the process called uploading -- because
the necessary analog-to-digital signal conversion generates more electronic
noise. As a result, uploading is limited to speeds of 28,800 or 33,600 bits
per second, depending on the Internet user's modem speed.
However, having high speed only for downloading is fine for most Internet
users.
"It's the perfect solution for Internet browsing, because you download
more than you upload. You'll be able to download at about twice the rate
would have previously" with a 28,800-bits-per-second modem, Kenfield
said.
The issue appears to be whether, in a segment of the computer market
where technical standards have yet to be established, U.S. Robotics' 56kb
modem technology can become dominant before Rockwell's technology
becomes widely available.
Dean Brady, a product manager at U.S. Robotics, said at least three
companies besides his firm are using U.S. Robotics' technology now, and
others plan to.
In addition, more than 180 ISPs nationwide use U.S. Robotics' technology
to sell 56kb Internet access to their customers, Brady said. That's about 5
percent of the ISPs in the nation.
Philip Midkiff, president of Web America Networks, said he's betting on
the U.S. Robotics technology because it was the first to reach the market
and provides a way to easily upgrade customer modems via software.
But Eileen Algaze, a spokeswoman for Rockwell Semiconductor Systems
in Newport Beach, Calif., said Rockwell's 56kb technology will be used by
more than 120 modem manufacturers, including such well-known brand
names as Hayes Microcomputer Products, Zoom Telephonics and
Motorola.
Motorola, which halted 56kb modem shipments in mid-March after the
discovery of the flaw in the Rockwell chips, probably will resume
shipments next week, said Shannon Clemons, a spokeswoman for
Motorola's modem operations in Alabama.
The biggest unanswered question is how long it will take a large number of
modems using the Rockwell technology to reach the market.
"If Rockwell does not get moving, they will have missed the market
window," O'Connor said. He said he believes that telecommunications
firms that provide equipment to ISPs will adapt to whichever of the two
56kb modem technologies becomes dominant in the marketplace.
The winner of the 56kb modem competition will soon become clear,
O'Connor predicted. "The way the Internet works, everything happens so
fast. I think it will all be over but shouting by the end of summer."
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