Storming Digital Phone Line Gates
Carol Wilson INTER@ACTIVE WEEK 2/8/99
It would seem to be a match made in heaven. On one side are businesses and consumers desperate for faster access to the Internet and other data networks. On the other side is a technology able to end that desperation - over ordinary phone lines.
So why has Digital Subscriber Line (XDSL) deployment turned devilish for some telephone companies - and why is it nonexistent at others? Are the Bells bungling this as badly as its predecessor, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)?
The answers are complex - as complex as the process of bringing any major new technology into the public network. And as easy as it is to call this a bad case of Bell bureaucracy gone blinkers, that's just not the whole picture.
The truth about XDSL starts with the fact that this technology, like almost anything else that is going to be put into a local network, has to be installed one central office (CO) at a time. Major cities have dozens of COs - large states have hundreds - so it's no small feat to get new gear everywhere at the same time.
Telephone technicians must go to each CO and install a piece Of equipment called a Digital Subscriber Line Access Modem(DSLAM). The DSLAM lets phone traffic travel over copper phone lines to XDSL modems at the customer end.
DSLAMs aren't simple or cheap. But if that were all that is required to get XDSL service up and running, XDSL would be universally available right now.
However, XDSL has distance limits. Anyone living more than about three-and-a-half miles from the CO that provides the service can pretty much forget about it. In addition, XDSL can't function on lines that have been equipped with systems called load coils, which aim to improve voice service. And most importantly, XDSL doesn't operate with digital loop carrier (DLC) systems. Many phone companies have installed this technology to extend services to new growth areas and neighborhoods.
So basically, you need a DSLAM in the CO, but no DLC if you want to get XDSL. Got it?
Acronyms aside, these are the precise reasons why a company like U S West (wwwuswest.com), which has aggressively deployed XDSL, admits it can reach only about 30 percent of its customer base.
To make things trickier, knowing who is among the lucky 30 percent isn't easy When a phone company publicly starts offering XDSL service, that company is taking a major risk. The only customer who is angrier than one who can't get XDSL is the one who can't get XDSL after it has become available to his neighbors.
Regulatory issues need to be resolved, as well. If a phone company goes to great expense to install XDSL equipment in its network, will it have to immediately resell that technology to competitors at a discount? Ameritech (wwwameritech.com) has put its XDSL deployment on ice until it gets an answer to that question.
None of this completely explains the problems at Pacific Bell (www.pacbell.com),, which announced XDSL service but left clueless customer service reps to handle the flood of incoming calls.
In truth, XDSL represents a competitive hurdle that the Bell companies must prove they can surmount. If it were not for the enormity of the potential market and the fact that cable companies and other competitors are pushing ahead with faster data access services, I doubt we would get XDSL at all. After all, many phone companies are trying to leverage their huge investment belatedly made in ISDN software - and in really would prefer that customers take that technology instead.
The phone companies are like school lunch lady, who,after decades of creatively recycling leftovers for a disgruntled but captive market, suddenly has to compete with McDonald's and Pizza Hut for the adolescent lunch dollar.
Beyond the specific challenge posed by XDSL, however, the bigger issue of preparing the phone network to take future technology leaps more gracefully, because they are coming - and will arrive - at an ever-faster pace. The telephone companies still have the enormous advantage of owning connections into virtually every business and residence in the country, and they are likely to be the best bet for new services that many people will ever have. For many people, that's the worst news yet.
Personally, I've stopped waiting for XDSL - and started loving it. Through a competing carrier, Rhythms NetConnections, and my ISP, Verio, I get a 1 megabit connection to the Internet that's always on. Life is sweeter and work is more productive, proving that XDSL can be that heavenly answer to a telecommuter's needs.
Wonder what "heaven" costs? |
