(BSNS WIRE) ADSL Forum Makes Strides toward Bringing Broadband Access to the Masses; Coming Year Promises to be Significant Milestone for DSL Deployment
Business Editors, Telecommunications Writers
WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 1999--The ADSL Forum
Summit and working meetings in the Nation's Capital took giant steps
toward resolving issues related to the mass market roll out of DSL
(digital subscriber line). The meetings highlighted avoiding risks to
the seamless, borderless and international nature of the Internet and
global e-commerce. "The telecommunications industry needs a regulatory
framework which is clear, stable, and stimulates business
opportunities worldwide. Whether it is for business, education,
entertainment or information exchange, the world is demanding speed,"
said Hans-Erhard Reiter, the Chairman of the ADSL Forum.
Regulatory Developments
In his keynote address, Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) of
the House Telecommunications Subcommittee remarked that the advent of
the current digital world is the most significant communications
trend since the 100-year-old copper network was deployed. He informed
over 300 delegates from telephone companies, equipment manufacturers
and computer businesses from around the world that resolving bandwidth
scarcity will be a priority of the Congressional agenda during the
106th Congress.
"In the last mile, the vast majority of users still access the
Internet with dial-up modems operating at 56 Kbps or less," said
Boucher. The deployment of last mile broadband services will allow DSL
to address the significant demand for "always on" high-speed access.
The Congressman also touched on preventing spam, the privacy rights of
citizens, and the legalities surrounding digital signatures.
Congressman Boucher invited ADSL Forum Summit meeting delegates
to contribute to current thinking on new U.S. legislation which he and
other members expect to offer in the next month or so to facilitate
development of the Internet backbone and deployment of "last mile"
broadband services throughout the country.
Industry analysts, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
and telecommunications service providers each addressed how to
accelerate mass market deployment of DSL worldwide at the Summit,
setting the scene for three more days of intensive technical and
marketing working meetings for Forum members.
Technical Progress
An ADSL operations and network management workshop united more
than 100 service providers and over 100 other industry players to
progress the technical work of the ADSL Forum. The 230-strong crowd
debated and brainstormed creative approaches to provisioning, fault
management, and network management systems. According to the Forum's
Technical Chair, Gavin Young, "This is the first time a group of this
scope and magnitude gathered face-to-face, with so many service
providers adding enormous value and impetus to our technical work. The
opportunity for this sharing of information and collaboration from so
many perspectives is essential for effectively transitioning from
trials to full-scale service deployments."
That workshop and the opportunities for automated provisioning
software (creating an automatic process from customer order to service
switch-on) were major topics for technical work throughout the week.
Current progress on automated provisioning has focused on G.lite, the
"plug and play" entry level DSL that is expected to be ready for
consumer launch later in 1999.
In preparation for this mass market deployment, the Forum's
members are addressing interoperability testing issues using ITU
standards, the development of which was accelerated by the efforts of
the Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG). The UAWG's focus is the
ongoing task of accelerating time-to-market for interoperable,
standards-based products. The Forum's members also began consideration
of the next technical developments. Tracking emerging DSL technologies
is a continuing mission for the Forum to ensure that their
requirements are evaluated and integrated into its technical and
marketing program.
Hans-Erhard Reiter, Chairman of the ADSL Forum, closed the week
with acknowledgement of the progress made and the steps still to come,
"Demand for ever-faster access to the Internet is accelerating around
the world. That is just one application for DSL technologies. In
Washington, we have made further significant strides toward enabling
mass market deployment. As we progress our technical work, we must
also ensure that the worldwide regulatory framework is clear for both
the industry and end users. Those regulatory issues include privacy
and protection of personal data; intellectual property rights;
encryption; e-commerce; digital signatures and taxation."
The next ADSL Forum Summit meeting will take place in Vienna,
Austria on 25 May 1999, preceded by a day long workshop open to
members and non-members on 24 May regarding voice over DSL.
About the ADSL Forum
The ADSL Forum represents over 300 of the world's leading
companies from all sectors of the global communication and computer
industry, governed by a Board of Directors elected by its members. In
this year's annual election, the membership voted to appoint two new
luminaries and re-elected four others whose two-year term on the Board
had expired. Jim Southworth, Director of Advanced Network Services and
Technologies for Concentric Network Corporation, and Kevin Kahn,
Director of Communication Architecture for Intel Corporation and
co-chair of the UAWG compliment the nine incumbent members.
This non-profit membership organization was founded in 1994 and
is dedicated to helping service providers and their suppliers realize
the enormous market potential of DSL and accelerate its deployment.
The entire list of the Board of Directors and additional information
about the ADSL Forum is available at www.adsl.com.
--30--ajk/cgo*
CONTACT: ADSL Forum Contact (North and South America):
PR Unlimited, Inc.
Kristi Kosloske/Cindy Golisch, 847/253-6600
kristi@prunlimited.com
or
ADSL Forum Contact (Europe & Asia Pacific):
PIELLE Consulting
Carol Friend/Lis McColl, 44-171-323-1587
teampielle@compuserve.com
KEYWORD: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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