[BC]
<<<I'm not saying BC has signed with Westell, but all indications point to a Westell/Nortel solution... until later.>>>
You're no doubt correct, though I wouldn't discount Amati's relationship with Nortel. It hasn't been bandied about, but it does exist. Recently PacBell, Nortel and Amati have been working together, first on the distance learning project, but subsequent to that, trialing other applications --- the latter from my conversation with PacBell's director of ADSL trials in So. California.
Also, Westell's conference call leads me to expect more DMT announcements than I otherwise might have. What are the chances BC would go with their CG solution? Could they possibly wait for it to wend its way through lab tests and trials?
After checking Bell Canada's web site, I've found the following:
<<<Bell Canada files ADSL Access tariff
On July 31, 1997, Bell Canada filed a proposal with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to provide residential Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) access to Internet service providers as well as corporations with telework programs.
ADSL is a new high-speed innovation that allows data (like Internet traffic) to be sent over existing copper telephone lines at many times the speed of conventional modems.
Bell's proposed ADSL Access service will enable service providers to offer truly high-speed Internet and Telework access to residential consumers. ADSL will give service providers access to a technology that is the next step in the evolution of the Internet.
Subject to CRTC tariff approval, Bell expects to make ADSL Access available to service providers in the Ottawa/Hull and Quebec City areas by September 30, 1997.
We believe that ADSL will enable people to explore and use the Internet in ways not previously imagined, tapping the full potential of the medium. ADSL also improves the efficiency of Teleworking arrangements from the home by virtue of the much improved file transfer capability.
With this ADSL tariff filing, Bell continues to demonstrate its commitment to closely work with service providers and to bring innovative technology to residential consumers. >>>
Now, from the BC website "The ADSL Story," they talk about 2.2Mbps down and 1Mbps up. Is this FlexCap2?
<<<Telephone companies throughout North America and around the world are eagerly testing the possibilities of an exciting new technology, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). In Canada, Bell Canada has launched a trial giving residence customers, home offices and teleworkers high-speed access to the Internet or to a corporate server.
Bell Canada's technology trial is providing high "downstream" speeds of 1.5 Megabits per second (Mbps) to the home and lower "upstream" speeds of 64 Kbps. That¡s up to 100 times faster than a 14.4 kilobits per second modem. As an enhancement to its technology trial, Bell is installing the next-generation ADSL modem, which will provide participants with maximum downstream speeds of 2.2 Mbps, and a maximum upstream speed of 1 Mbps.
Starting this fall, Bell's ADSL service will become available in select cities in Ontario and Quebec.
Bell is committed to giving Canadians an array of choices that will make Canada's information highway efficient and accessible.
Speeds are evolving quickly to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of the Internet and the workplace.
At 4 Mbps, 200 pages of text will download in less than one second, and a typical Web page will download in less than one-tenth of a second.
Within a few years, ADSL will reach 52 Mbps -- almost 4,000 times faster than the standard modem. >>>>
As far as the various rates, here's what Amati's technology can do, as explained by Dr. John Cioffi in his January 20 article in The EE Times:
techweb.com
Several quotes:
<<<ADSL's rate adaptation allows the variation of ADSL's data rate according to the quality of the phone line. The rate-adaptation concept is analogous to voiceband modems that connect at the highest possible data rate. ADSL's rate adaptation is far more robust via the use of an ADSL-specific invention of Stanford University that is now incorporated in the worldwide standard. Shorter phone lines (i.e., about 1.5 miles or less) exhibit less attenuation with increasing frequency, and are more immune to noise. Longer lines (1.5 to 5 miles) can carry only lower data rates (down to about 1.5 Mbits/s at 5 miles). . . .[Lists factors that affect rates. . .]
Allowing for those factors, we realize downstream rates of approximately 8 Mbits/s at line distances to 1.5 miles; 6 Mbits/s to distance of 2.5 miles; 4 Mbits/s to distances of 3.5 miles; and 1.5 to 2 Mbits/s at distances of 3.5 to 5 miles.
>>>
And the final paragraph which leads me to question if FlexCap can go 1Mbps upstream:
<<<DMT has been tested by several neutral testing facilities, including Nynex, Bellcore, GTE and NTSL, with publicly reported results. The 1993 results with DMT, in an "Olympics" held at Bellcore, showed DMT significantly outperforming QAM and CAP systems, which led to DMT's unanimous selection as a standard. A single group has continued to pursue a nonstandard CAP technology, but, at the time of this writing, some three years after they were promised, has been unable to provide modems at speeds above 1.5 to 2 Mbits/s (only 64 kbits/s upstream), despite a worldwide marketing campaign behind the technology. Test results show that the performance domination of DMT has increased, despite competitors' claims to the contrary.>>>
So, I remain confused. While I know Amati has sent modems to BC, I've never seen anything in print acknowledging the fact. At this point in time I certainly wouldn't say they're in the running for the award. On the other hand, I wouldn't go so far as to say Westell has it in the bag.
Just my take.
Cheers!
Pat
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