John - ION is Sprint's way of betting the farm that ATM, being a good backbone for almost everything if the bandwidth is there, is the best available technology for the next few years.
What this assumes, of course, is an almost unlimited supply of bandwidth becoming available - and Sprint is in somewhat of a driver's seat; their FO network can be multiplied rather quickly.
However, other technologies may prove to be a better and more economical alternative to "pricing by packet." Despite many predictions, network equipment specialization has not been killed off yet and vendors and service providers may be able to meet some market demands better than ION's "one network does it all" approach.
I see ION as a really nice mass-transit system - some people will jump at the chance while others will always drive their own cars. Give me two or three different vehicles for differing purposes any day vs. having a bus in my driveway.
By the time Sprint has ION into place in a few major accounts, other technologies will probably have gained some ground. Major businesses do not put all their eggs in any one service provider's basket, either, no matter how glowing the press releases sound.
Plus, we have to assume other competitors for access to the local loop will have made similar vaporware announcements.
Just my thoughts - not glowing ones for ION, though. |
