"The problem is that no one on the AOL thread and few on this thread seems to have given much thought to how the cable network can be opened. How would you allocate usage, billing, upgrade and design costs across multiple ISP's? Would you also require wireless and satellite based ISP's to be open?"
Ted, just wondering how far back you've examined this thread. See my upstream posts spanning the past three months on this subject.
I've gone to great lengths to describe just how ridiculous the idea of sharing the current limited HFC spectrum would be... not only for multiple tenancies by interlopers and other opportunistic ISPs alike, who haven't laid down a single dime on infrastructure risks, but for ATHM's future needs, as well. Perhaps when the channel plans are modified due to the introduction of digital, additional allocations will be made available for data. But we're talking long time frames here, for what will inevitably amount to only a band aid fix.
"Open Access?... There may be a way, but I can't find it."
One plausible way for AOL to gain access in a viable manner would be to buy out CBS and take over their frequency allocations on cable systems. But this would be so disruptive and take so long to achieve from an architectural perspective (time needed to amend HFC, or other fiber-based, system specifications and for modifications to the set top box, etc.) that it wouldn't be a very viable alternative in the end, either. Can AOL afford to wait out such a lengthy metamorphosis of existing cable infrastructures?
These are among the growing list of issues that will accelerate the furtherance of fiber, deeper into the neighborhoods, I feel.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
