ADSL keeps gaining momentum
By Robert Lemos
January 22, 1998 4:39 PM PST
ZDNN
Building on a broad partnership to standardize high-speed Internet communications, No. 1 PC maker Compaq Computer Corp. and Midwest telco Ameritech Corp. have struck a deal to bring fast Web access to Ameritech's customers.
"Along with Ameritech, [we are] making high-speed Internet access easy for our customers to get and use," said Michael Rubin, director of product marketing for Compaq's Presario line, in a statement.
Ameritech (AIT)announced on Thursday that the telco had provided Compaq (CPQ) with asymmetric digital subscriber line, or ADSL, modems for testing in new Presario computers.
The plan: Compaq retailers will offer to configure systems for high-speed access in Michigan and Illinois -- the two areas where Ameritech will offer ADSL service in the near future.
The company's ADSL Internet service, called Ameritech.net, provides users with data download rates of up to 1.5M bits per second -- about 30 times the speed of today's fastest modems -- and upload rates of 128K bits per second. The service costs $150 to start up and $60 a month afterwards; new customers also get a discount rate of $50 a month for the first year.
"Right now, Compaq is reviewing our network cards and modems to make sure they interoperate with their systems," said Jean Medina, spokesperson for Ameritech. The Compaq Presario computers will be available by the spring of 1998.
The agreement could be another boost for ADSL, which is competing with ISDN (integrated services digital network), cable delivery, and other forms of data transmission to bring fast Internet access to the home.
"This is definitely an important move; one that we will see others doing in the coming weeks," said analyst Barbara Ells of Zona Research Inc. "With whatever product they come up with, the key is going to be whether it is user-installable and how fast will they roll out solutions for business."
In the last week, ADSL has come back from near-obscurity when Compaq and Ameritech -- along with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Intel Corp. (INTC), and most major telecommunications providers -- announced their intent to make ADSL a nationwide standard for high-speed Internet access.
Before that, Microsoft's and Intel's interest in cable companies had most industry watchers pegging cable as the future high-speed gateway to the Internet. Microsoft had invested $1 billion in cable provider Comcast Corp. last year.
More announcements are right around the corner. "With the premature announcement of the ADSL consortium, news is coming in spurts rather than with the impact of a unified announcement," explained Zona's Ells. On Tuesday, the New York Times had reported the story, focusing the industry on the potential of ADSL technology.
Ameritech started up ADSL service in Ann Arbor, Mich., last month, and plans to have Chicago up and running in the near future. Over the next three years, the Baby Bell expects to add service in areas that cover 70 percent of its customers. Ameritech offers services in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. |
