1. headend and to the premises ----> TCI
backbone to RDC ----> leased from carriers like Sprint
RDC ----> servers & equipment leased or owned by ATHM
2. what do you mean by internal?
3. this question isn't well posed. ATHM is a content aggregator, not a
content creator. Better to say content enabler.
4. to what contract provisions are you referring?
1. TCI owns most of the equipment. ATHM owns the patent on the redundancy architecture. Networking only means the sending of signals between computers. There are wires and there are computer servers in between. At the backbone level there are switches, other computer box -sized devices. So what do you mean by how much of the networking is done on the boxes and wires? All of it. TCI is the physical aspect of the network, ATHM is what travels on TCI's, Sprint, etc., wires, switches, and computers. Read the technicals on the redundancy model. What will you know if you can identify where the weakness is in the net? ATHM has a very good lead which is widening. It is easier to join the leader than to roll your own. Other large telcos must roll their own. It will take a few years to get something which will compete with ATHM and longer for AOL. AOL would need a telco partner and TWX-Road Runner. It is almost certain this will occur.
2. the current ATHM national backbone is part of the internet. ATHM leases bandwidth from Sprint. Others are using more of Sprint's bandwidth for all manner of transfers. Caching is local, not a backbone nodal function. In several years there won't be any "slow" internet. Do you use your 2400 bps modem any longer? The 2.5 Gbps means essentially nothing. It means 16x more bandwidth in comparison to standard OC3. Pure starts at 25 Gbps and in several years will be 2 Tbps. Better implementations take this out 10x. What do you know now? Remember, whatever is available will be used. You are mistaken about users/link, whatever that means. You should learn about ATHM's redundancy local caching model. It has yet to be implemented in scale.
3. ATHM is a content enabler
4. haven't you heard of digital tv? Broadband is the generic term for Internet, Internet multimedia, streaming video, videophone, voice, tv, data, data modeling, VPN, video conferencing, broadcast, etc. It all will come in on one wire. Inside there will be a box in which you plug the peripherals or media appliances including an intelligent controller called a PC. Analog anything will cease to exist.
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