Excerpts of an Eric Benhamou's interview on Convergence brings richer data netwok
Published Monday, January 26, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News
Q The last round of convergence predictions -- which focused on the merger
of TV, telephone and computer -- didn't exactly work out. Why will it be any
different this time?
A What I'm talking about here is a convergence of infrastructure, and it is
anchored in very, very solid economics. This is not consumer emotions. This is
not a fad.
Today, there are very, very sound economic reasons why you would want to
move a portion, if not all, of your voice network onto your data network. You
save in terms of (equipment) cost. You save in terms of operational costs. You
actually could easily slash your phone bill by 30 to 50 percent now that you
have data network infrastructure.
Q What do consumers gain here? Is it simply a matter of cost?
A What I've spoken about so far pertains primarily to the IT (information
technology) organization. However, the consumer should also see massive
amounts of cost savings.
I don't know how many Internet subscribers there were as of the end of 1997.
I'm going to venture a guess that in the United States, it was probably in
excess of 30 million users. These 30 million users are getting their Internet
service from some kind of ISP (Internet service provider). These ISPs,
beginning this year -- not five years from now, but beginning this year -- will
begin to offer richer services, fax services, telephony services on top of their
existing service. In other words, not requiring a second line, but on top of the
existing line, so consumers will be able to begin to tap into the benefits of
(Internet) telephony without having to make a lot of investments on their own.
And, by the way, so far I have mostly emphasized economic benefits. There
are other benefits which are, perhaps, a little harder to measure, but they have
to do with the fact that new things are possible if voice, video, and data are
available on the same physical plant and also on the same circuits. It makes it
possible for you, for example, to surf through the Web, and you wander around
and explore a site.
Q Does this kind of service require an increase in bandwidth to the home? |
