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Study sees bandwidth crunch
in '99
December 10, 1998
Web posted at: 9:40 AM EST
by Kathleen Ohlson
(IDG) -- Bandwidth will be a major
issue facing cable, computer and
telephone companies next year,
according to a survey released
yesterday by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
With Internet traffic doubling every 100 days, the volume of data traffic will
exceed voice within two years, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers
study, "Technology Forecast: 1999." Transmitting digital data will blur the
lines between voice, fax, data and video transmissions, and between fixed
and mobile services, the survey said.
Several issues surround bandwidth, the
research firm said: How consumers will get
it, how businesses will use it and how it will
come into play with Internet backbones,
according to Michael Katz, an analyst at the
New York firm. "Progress has been made
in all of these areas because of electronic
business. [Companies] want to go online" to
give consumers a "compelling shopping
experience," he said. That experience won't
be compelling if consumers use a 28.8K
bit/sec. modem, he added.
The key to all of these changes will come from competition in the local loop
area, Katz said. Phone companies are aggressively pushing Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line, and cable companies are pushing better cable
modems, he said.
The telecommunications market will continue to see consolidations,
agreements and alliances, Katz said. Four or five global supercarriers will be
created by 2002, out of 4,000 national and regional players, the study said.
"This will lead to more choices, lower prices and better service," Katz said.
cnn.com
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