SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - Sprint is promising that its new, high-speed data network will turn phone
lines everywhere into powerful voice, video and Internet pipes. But that's not to suggest that it's a magic
pill.
For delivery to every home and business, Sprint's new system is no different than any other. It depends
on the mass installation of high-speed connections. When it comes to phone lines, those connections
will still depend on digital subscriber line technology.
Rather than replacing the need for the digial lines, or ADSL, Sprint is packaging it as part of a single
high-speed data service, Integrated On-Demand Network (ION).
"It's hard to read (into Sprint's announcement) because it's a blur of acronymns," said Brett Azuma, chief
analyst for the industry-research firm Dataquest. He said Sprint appears intent on creating "a more
integrated approach" to providing high-speed data service.
"Rather than worrying about cable vs. ADSL or anything else, what Sprint will do is provide a solution to
customers in a turnkey fashion," Azuma said.
Sprint's president of national integrated services, Kevin Brauer, acknowledged this dependence on
ADSL.
Sprint will purchase the last-mile service from local providers, Brauer said, which are known as
competitive local exchange carriers. These carriers are aggressively deploying high-speed, last-mile
connections such as DSL and fiber to businesses. "When you acquire (broadband capabilities), you'll
acquire through Sprint," he said.
Sprint announced the $2 billion upgrade to its network this morning, promising "virtually unlimited
bandwidth over a single existing telephone line for simultaneous voice, video calls, and data services."
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ION will offer unprecendented capabililties to consumers, Sprint said, including advanced broadband
video and data transmission over older switched-phone networks, extending the reach of advanced
services to more customers.
As Azuma sees it, where ADSL service is available, Sprint's new offering will be significant if it can
streamline what is a confusing array of choices for consumers.
Otherwise, the consumer has to shop among equipment providers, phone companies, and service
providers. In contrast, Sprint's plan consolidates these choices into one product. Sprint will handle
packaging and marketing and sell it through Radio Shack, in a distribution-channel partnership
announced today.
Early reaction from the ADSL Forum, another industry consortium pushing for the advancement of DSL
technologies, expressed confidence in the future of this technology.
"Regardless of new fiber-based infrastructure rebuilds, the ADSL Forum is confident that ADSL will be
widely deployed to turn those phone lines into high-speed broadband pipes," said Bill Rodey, the forum's
vice president.
Meanwhile, Azuma said the company is going out on a limb in touting the benefits of the network whose
commercial availability is a long way off for many of the potential customers. "This is a very gutsy move."
But he sees it as a strategy that's been brewing and may pay off. "You haven't heard a lot from Sprint in
these last few years on data and this could be why."
Sprint, the nation's third largest long-distance telelphone company, said ION will be available to large
businesses later this year, to smaller businesses in mid-1999, and to consumers in late 1999. |
