ADSL Faces Snafus
(11/04/98 12:43 p.m. ET)
By Todd Wasserman, Computer Retail Week
ADSL standards are here, but a workable retail model for the technology has yet to emerge.
Telephone companies are trying various models for delivering ADSL to consumers, such as including it in PC bundles and in packages sold by ISPs. Few sell their products and services in retail stores.
"The U.S. market is taking longer than we'd hoped," said Al Brisard, director of marketing and business development at 3Com, in Santa Clara, Calif. Brisard said a major obstacle is obtaining accurate information about ADSL deployment.
"The last thing we want to do is have [a customer] buy a modem and find they can't get [A]DSL, and have it returned," he said.
Placing its ADSL modems on retail shelves is 3Com's eventual goal, Brisard said.
Marshall Toplanksy, a consultant with Chicago-based Core Strategies, said telephone companies are unfamiliar with the channel.
"They're technical people. They've probably not thought [distribution] issues through," he said.
The cable industry, meanwhile, is testing retail programs in several cities.
Toplanksy said the cable companies "seem to be doing all the right things." Brisard agreed, saying the cable industry is moving quicker than telephone companies to provide service to consumers.
Pilot programs launched during the past two years in Jacksonville, Fla.; the San Diego area; New Brunswick, Canada; and other places have made cable modems available to consumers.
Cable service provider MediaOne launched the largest such deal in New England last month, with 17 Circuit City outlets in the region. In those stores, customers may buy a Bay Networks cable modem for a $199 suggested retail price.
TCI.Net, a subsidiary of Englewood, Colo.-based cable operator TCI, said it plans to start offering this month the @Home Internet service to customers in Spokane, Wash. 3Com will sell its cable modems at area stores, including CompUSA, said William Markey, director of marketing for 3Com's business-development unit.
Meanwhile, few relationships among ADSL providers and retailers have been announced, even though the International Telecommunication Union approved ADSL standards earlier this month.
The highest-profile deal, between Bell Atlantic and CompUSA outlets in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., does not include the sale of ADSL modems.
Participating CompUSA stores sell ADSL service over the phone with the participation of a Bell Atlantic representative. Customers at those stores buy the modems from Bell Atlantic. CompUSA could not be reached for comment at publishing deadline time.
Other Baby Bells are taking different approaches. Bell Canada sells its ADSL service through ISPs. BellSouth sells its service through BellSouth.net, its ISP unit. Both companies said they do not intend to offer ADSL through retail.
Direct-seller Dell, meanwhile, said it plans to launch ADSL service as an option for consumers early next year. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell has service agreements in place with Bell Atlantic, SBC Communications, and U S West. Cisco will provide ADSL modems for that venture.
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