I have to agree that ISDN is going to be a major industry. I
currently live in Germany, and you would be amazed how advanced this
country is with ISDN (yup, I have ISDN at home)
The cost of Hardware? ISDN adapters for the PC cost about $200 here.
(Don't forget, that everything is expensive in Germany). The cost of
a hookup here is $100, calls cost the same as a phonecall, monthly
fee is about $40 (normal telephone costs $20), but I have 3 telephone
numbers and 2 B-Channels available for use. The German government
is even subsidizing ISDN, I received $200 for having it installed.
U.S. phone companies seem to be using ISDN internally already, when
my mom calls from N.J., I see her phone number on my phone, THAT is an
ISDN feature. Others are call waiting, conferencing etc.
It is just a matter of time for the phone companies to start competing
and voila (PRICE WARS), ISDN is going to be reasonably priced in the
U.S.
Keep in mind though, that most ISDN know-how is NOT in the U.S., you'll
probably find it in Europe (Siemens, AVM, Teles for example).
No, 57Kbit is not too slow for videoconferencing (64KBit in Europe), besides
you can use 2x64Kbit = 128Kbit if necesary. Companies to watch here are:
Picturetel (PTEL), Intel (INTC) etc.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that German Telekom, France Telecom
have an interest in Sprint, and the German Telekom (now a government
company) will be going public in 1996, a multi billion $$$ monopolist!
Eric |
