Titans unite on Net access
Accord: Intel, Microsoft, Compaq join five phone firms on high-speed links.
New York Times
Three titans of the personal computer industry have joined with five of the nation's
largest local telephone companies to push a unified approach to high-speed Internet
access over ordinary phone lines -- in a bid likely to accelerate a promising but
long-delayed technology.
Compaq Computer Corp., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. intend to unveil the
venture next week at a communications conference in Washington, executives
involved with the alliance said.
The computer and phone companies are developing standards for so-called digital
subscriber line (DSL) service, focusing on a version that would deliver the Internet
30 times as quickly as conventional modems. With such speed, Web pages that
now take minutes to view would appear on a computer's screen almost instantly.
Several DSL services already are available in much of the Bay Area and other
communities around the country, although the monthly rates are well above what
the average Internet surfer would want to spend. The version that Compaq, Intel
and Microsoft are promoting could be less expensive, though, because it would be
built into new computers and require no extra work to install.
Top telecommunications equipment manufacturers, including Lucent Technologies,
Northern Telecom and Rockwell, have already announced a similar money-saving
approach to DSL. They are working on standards, too, but their efforts could be
eclipsed by the market power of the Microsoft-Intel-Compaq alliance.
For the computer industry alliance, faster Internet access is a powerful way to pump
up consumer interest in bigger and better computers, at a time when a boom in
sub-$1,000 PCs threatens to cut into profit margins. Today's high-end computers
are built to present top-quality sound and video, but the low capacity of today's
phone network degrades the splashy multimedia material available on the Internet.
Holiday goal
Microsoft, Intel and Compaq hope to have modems and software based on the new
standards on store shelves by Christmas, the executives said.
DSL multiplies the capacity of copper phone wires by using frequencies higher than
those used to carry conversations. |
