news.cnet.com
SBC readies new role in broadband content
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
July 2, 2001, 11:45 a.m. PT
With a small change to its high-speed DSL network, SBC Communications is laying the groundwork for a much more prominent role in a world of video on demand, music services and online gaming.
The company, one of the nation's largest local phone companies, is in the early stages of testing a technology that will change the way its high-speed customers connect to the Internet.
Traditionally, a DSL (digital subscriber line) customer has linked directly to an ISP, through which Net content flows. But with new software, which will be installed sometime next year, SBC will allow surfers to access services directly from SBC's network in addition to their own ISPs. SBC hopes the new option will push people toward subscribing to a new range of entertainment services over the phone lines.
It's a relatively small change, almost invisible from the customer's perspective. But when added to the company's new investments in Web hosting facilities and a drive to bring movies, music and games into its network, it serves as one of the final pieces in a strategy with which SBC hopes to push far beyond its traditional role as a network provider. |
