OT re DSL:
My non-expert opinion and interpretation of the unfolding evolution in last-mile technologies is:
The Baby Bells repeatedly put off spending on the DSL infrastructure, and now it's too late. The window of opportunity is closing. DSL is great, but only in comparison to the past (a 28 or 56-speed telephone modem). There is no technology that is evolving faster. Everyone is pouring resources into this area, and the bar for acceptable performance gets raised higher every month. DSL is not great, in comparison to cable modems, or the 3G wireless infrastructure. Basically, I don't think it is possible to tweak double-stranded wire, and get a pipeline fat enough to do what people are going to want to do, in the near future. What the Baby Bells are trying to do, is extend the lifespan of their installed infrastructure. What else can they do, since their stocks are dependant on their ownership of all those too-thin wires? DSL is the end-of-the-line, for them. It's a dead-end, technologically. Wireless 2G (installed now) will become 2.5G (going in now), which becomes 3G (next year), and the engineers are already thinking about 4G. DSL is the last, best, model of Buggy Whips.
Again, this is just my opinion, and I'm sure there are many aspects of this industry and technology that I am ignorant of. |
