[ADSL Stories Found Whilst Surfin' PCWeek...]
Hi Pat -
Please note that I hand typed these first two article fragments...
Also, note Robert Faw's DSL projections.
Steve
Two articles in the October 15th, 1997 hard copy of PCWeek:
The Next Technology For Remote Connection
File transfer speeds can make a quantum leap if telcos would support digital subscriber line
The piece begins by saying:
"Always on the lookout for ways to expedite file transfers? If so, then it's time to encourage your telephone company to take a hard look at DSL."
Later:
"Still, interest in DSL is on the rise 'Telephone companies understand that DSL may offer them a simple way to deliver new data services to their customers,' said Kiernan Taylor, the director of broadcast consulting at TeleChoice Inc., a Verona, N.J., market research firm."
The article discusses some problems found in DSL trials:
"Theoretically, DSL can operate on any twisted-pair connection, but Lotus Development Corp. found that's not always the case. The company has established a telecommuting program involving 300 employees who occasionally work at home.
[TEXT DELETED]
The company worked with Bell Atlantic and now approximately 50 users have DSL connections, and the number should grow to 60 by the end of the year.
Lotus' Rosen stated the wiring problems emerged in a few cases. Because data connections require higher quality connections than voice communications, the wiring in a few employee's homes would not support DSL. [TEXT DELETED] Lotus worked with Bell Atlantic to fix the problems."
They discuss the Carnegie Mellon Trials:
"Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, also ran into some wiring problems in its DSL trial." [TEXT DELETED] (they) "began a DSL trial with Bell Atlantic in July. " the Trial has 75 of 100 planned installations completed. Carnegie "encountered a few problems in apartment buildings where the building wiring was not as up-to-date as we needed." The article states that the University technicians "have found the DSL connections easy to monitor because the modems support SNMP."
Later in the article, discussing the costs of modems:
"To be successful, carriers feel they must offer services in the same range as residential phone service: $30 to $50 per month. Currently, carriers would have difficulty making money with such a pricing model, since DSL modems cost between $750 and $1,250.
Robert Faw, CEO at Westell, Inc. and Aurora, Ill., DSL modem supplier, said the price has to drop to the $250 range for carriers to have a sound business case. He expects dramatic price drops to come as the year ends, because the cost of components needed to build DSL modems is dropping."
Finally, discussing the Telco's competitive threats...
"Because of that threat, Westell's Faw expects telephone companies to quickly deploy DSL services. 'We have taken part in more than 100 DSL trials worldwide during the past few years,' he stated. 'I know that half a dozen large telephone companies plan to start major service rollouts next year. By the end of 1998, I expect the number of DSL lines to double, maybe even triple."
[**NEXT ARTICLE**]
For Whom the BellSouth Tolls
President of Internet division plots ISP strategy
This is an interview with John Robinson, Internet Division President.
[CUT TO ADSL-SPECIFIC QUERY]
PCWeek: Are you testing new technologies like DSL?
Robinson: Oh, yeah. As a corporation, the XDSL business is not housed in BellSouth.net, but the corporation, of course, understands the future needs for bandwidth and the race for speed. Speed is more complex than just bandwidth - it includes hops and server capacity. So the overall Internet architecture is something that really matters. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
The following is at their Web site...
ADSL clears line for bandwidth
Modem technology may deliver high-speed apps over
existing phone lines
By Erin Callaway
10.15.97
For weary business travelers, hotels may just be a place to get a good
night's rest. But for ITT Sheraton's John Herrera and Bill Oates, hotels are like microcosmic cities--right down to the copper wire that delivers telephone and cable service to the guest rooms in many of the chain's older facilities.
[TEXT DELETED]
This fall, the hotel chain, a fully owned subsidiary of $6.6 billion ITT Corp., is launching a pilot project at a hotel in Hong Kong, where ADSL will be deployed to stream digital video and provide high-speed Internet access directly into guest rooms.
The approach certainly beats alternatives such as cable modems, which can't guarantee bandwidth, or switched Ethernet, which would require installing a complicated matrix of hubs and routers throughout the 19-story building, said Herrera, in Boston. Not only would switched Ethernet be more expensive, he said, it also would have more possible points of failure than the simple ADSL lines. The pilot will go live in mid-October.
FULL TEXT AT:
zdnet.com |
