Compaq, Intel, Microsoft may team with telcos on
DSL
By Kristi Essick
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 6:38 AM PT, Jan 20, 1998
In a bid to speed Internet access, computing giants Microsoft, Compaq and Intel are
reportedly planning to join with several regional Bell operating companies in an
attempt to set a standard for the high-speed data communications technology,
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).
The companies are expected to announce the alliance next week at the ComNet
communications conference in Washington, according to a story in Tuesday's New
York Times.
DSL, the technology the group is trumpeting, allows data to be transmitted over
regular copper phone lines at speeds of up to 8Mbps using a special modem and
switching technology. DSL, supported by most phone companies, is just one of the
new high-speed Internet access technologies currently being developed. The most
directly competitive technology to DSL is Internet access using a cable modem, a
technology that is strongly supported by the cable television companies.
Of the five regional Bell operating companies, only Bell Atlantic has not joined the
Compaq-Intel-Microsoft consortium, the report said. Bell Atlantic is reportedly
leaning toward the development of a different sort of DSL than the one that the new
consortium supports, it said. However, Bell Atlantic is not permanently opposed to
joining the group and would consider linking up if a discussion was launched
regarding the types of DSL available, the report said.
The new group plans to set a standard and deliver software and modems based on
the standard by the end of the year, according to the New York Times report. The
modems envisioned by the group would be on at all times and would allow users to
get phone calls over the same line while simultaneously connected to the Internet,
the report said.
Though DSL has been under development for years, it has been held back from
widespread adoption because of a lack of technical standards, say some observers.
The Compaq-Intel-Microsoft consortium is reportedly relying in part on technology
currently being developed by a small Massachusetts company called Aware Inc. in
its quest to develop a DSL standard.
Compaq, Intel, and Microsoft officials were not immediately available to comment. |
