ITU modem std, part II
Modem prices have been declining so rapidly that it's
taken the profit out of the business," said Will Strauss, an
analyst at Forward Concepts Inc., in Tempe, Ariz. "They
need to come out with a standard so [vendors] have an
excuse to bring prices back up again."
Even 3Com, whose x2 technology is not represented as
strongly as K56Flex in the standard proposal, is happy
with the progress.
"We're pleased that we can move forward," said Neil
Clemmons, vice president of marketing at 3Com's personal
communications division, in Skokie, Ill.
Officials from Rockwell, not surprisingly, were thrilled.
"It's terrific; [several] issues have been resolved in favor of
the Flex camp," said Vijay Parikh, vice president and
general manager of the personal computing division at
Rockwell, in Newport Beach, Ore. "We're delighted by this
particular decision."
Some vendors caution that work toward the standard is far
from over.
"All the major obstacles have been removed, but there are
still some subtle issues," said Bahman Barazesh, technical
manager for modem products at Lucent, in Middletown,
N.J. "We have a good chance to settle this thing, but
there is still work to be done."
A standard for the new year would be good news for ISPs
(Internet service providers).
"As an ISP, I've held off putting in 56K because of the
incompatible [technologies]," said Glenn Schimmelpfennig,
president of Gatekeepers Internet Access, in Salt Lake
City. "Now I'll put it in probably in February.
"I've been thinking for months that it would be nice if the
modem manufacturers would put aside their egos and
come up with one," Schimmelpfennig said. "It's good for
the end user. Everyone will be able to talk to each other,
and this should move the industry forward." |
