Re: US DSL Players and Stats- SBC, USW, and GTE
Thread- A heavily edited article on three big US SPs in the DSL game with some accompanying interesting stats. -MikeM(From Florida)
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS-- has the largest DSL deployment in the world, with more than 300,000 subs as of first quarter 2000.
In early 1999, SBC announced it would increase its ADSL rollout in the Pacific Bell region to combat the rapid cable modem deployments in California. To accomplish that task, it promised to create more than 250 DSL-ready COs, covering 70 percent of the state.
Then, in October 1999, SBC unveiled its Project Pronto. This ambitious $6 billion effort looks to establish a footprint of 77 million homes in the United States. If successful, that would mean 80 percent of SBC's Ameritech, Nevada Bell, PacBell, SNET and SWBell customers would have DSL access.
To accomplish this formidable task, SBC will have to enable 25 million DSL lines in just three years. The first few months of the campaign didn't live up to expectations, however. The RBOC ended 1999 more than 30,000 customers short of its 200,000-subscriber goal.
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US WEST-- which was the first RBOC to offer DSL service in 1998, reported more than 110,000 DSL subscribers by the end of 1999, an 88,000-sub increase over 1998. While US West doesn't lead in total subs, it has forged to the head of the line in self-installs. The company reports 93 percent of its customers self-install their DSL equipment.
One of the most ambitious and most-watched DSL service rollouts is taking place in Phoenix, Ariz. That's where US West has gone all out to deploy VDSL service, which first began in June 1999. Its fiber-to-the-neighborhood technologies offers fully integrated digital video and high-speed data to residential and business customers.
By putting fiber deeper into neighborhoods, the company reaches to within 4,000 feet of a customer's location. As a result, US West's VDSL technology delivers speeds up to 26 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream.
In the neighborhood, signals are converted and transported via ATM and MPEG-2 technologies through the existing telephone wires in each home to interconnect individual TV sets, personal computers, telephones and audio equipment. The company's Choice TV and Choice Online products are compelling.
The attractiveness of a VDSL offering is starting to increase among other RBOCs, says NextLevel's Klein. The RBOCs have a huge investment in their existing copper plant. And today they're getting $12 to $15 a month revenue for telephone service off the copper pair. If they can put VDSL on that existing copper pair and provide bundled voice, video and data, they have the opportunity to get $100 a month.
Klein says the economics for deploying a VDSL system are becoming more compelling, as well. ?You can put in our system, which resembles a digital loop carrier system, for the same cost you would pay to put in a POTS-only system. And then you can provision it as you add the new services, and all you have is the incremental cost of the services. VDSL is no more expensive than ADSL to put in because you?re sharing the same infrastructure across the board.?
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GTE-- meanwhile, started shipping a DSL self-install kit in its 17-state service area, where it currently has 75,000 DSL subscribers. The kit is designed to speed the installation of the telco-delivered broadband service so that the company can reach its goal of serving 200,000 DSL customers by the end of 2000.
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RBOC COMPETITORS-- haven't been idle, either. NorthPoint, Rhythms and Covad have been aggressive in signing up DSL customers. The three combined now pass 20,000 homes and offices, and each plans to wire nearly half the U.S. this year. Covad, NorthPoint and Jato also joined forces with GTE to resell its service beyond its coverage area. This team effort will allow the company to offer a nationwide network to customers. |
