ADSL gets East Coast trial
By Tim Clark
January 21, 1997, 12:30 p.m. PT
PALM SPRINGS, California--Just a day after a
similar announcement by Pacific Bell, Bell Atlantic
said today that it will begin a market test of
high-speed ADSL data communications in its
region within six weeks and move to a rollout in a
major metropolitan area by this fall.
In making the announcement
on the second day of a
technology conference here,
Bell Atlantic CEO Ray Smith
declined to say specifically
where the trial of asymmetric
digital subscriber line will be
conducted. But he narrowed
the field to three metropolitan areas: Philadelphia,Baltimore, or Washington.
The fall rollout will take place in Philadelphia,
Washington, or Boston, which joins Bell Atlantic's
territory through its acquisition of Nynex. Smith
would not say how much Bell Atlantic will charge
for ADSL, which is faster than ISDN and the
phone company's alternative to cable modems.
Bell Atlantic's move was the second major
announcement of ADSL service this week.
Yesterday, Pacific Bell said it will roll out a
high-speed data service in September that will
provide Net access to telecommuters and
home-based businesses at 1.5 mbps.
Smith dubbed 1997 "the Year of ADSL," in honor
of the high-speed technology that rivals Integrated
Services Digital Network service. He predicted
that Ameritech will roll out ADSL in Chicago and
that Southwestern Bell will offer the service in San
Antonio, as well as Pac Bell's California plans.
But Smith said ISDN will not disappear if phone
companies lower its costs. "We put a lot of money
into it, so it will have a life of his own," he said. "It will be part of a family of [high-speed Internet
access] systems."
ADSL is far easier to work with than ISDN, he
said, because it is easier to install, configure, and
sell.
Smith outlined Bell Atlantic's strategy, saying that
by year's end it would complete building a variable
broadband digital network in its territory, including
2.8 million miles of fiber-optic cable.
Pac Bell plugs ADSL service
ISDN: It still does something Pac Bell rebuffed on
ISDN Bells ring up ADSL modems
ADSL makes a name for itself in speed
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