I saw this and thought I would post it as a source of information who is far more experienced and connected than I am on these matters. I think it is clear what he is saying on the matter.
January 20, 1999:
AT&T: HFC Networks Are Best
Dallas -- Cable's hybrid fiber-coaxial networks are the best and most cost-effective method to delivered integrated services, according to a lead AT&T Corp. executive.
"HFC is paramount to the vision for AT&T, and it has great and major advantages over the alternatives," including xDSL (digital subscriber line), fixed wireless and satellite techniques, said Mark Dzuban, director of technical business development for AT&T.
Dzuban was speaking at Wednesday morning's keynote session at the Society of Telecommunications Engineers' Emerging Technologies conference here.
Dzuban said AT&T's current network contains six to eight layers of transport and switching, and its new plan is to go with an integrated approach that puts those layers on a common platform.
He added that AT&T's network is evolving to a core high-speed transport and switching platform, based on Internet protocol, which will support commercial and consumer applications.
But, he said, one element is still missing: a national footprint that covers the 100 million households in the United States.
"We have HFC as a primary solution, but we need to cover a national footprint," Dzuban said. He declined to elaborate on AT&T's specific plans to round out that gap, except to say, "There are solutions in other markets."
He said AT&T will enter the IP-telephony game "in a big way" in 2000, noting that the company's plans for 10 cable-telephony trials this year will use circuit-switched techniques, and not IP.
- 1/20/99
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