UUNet to launch
high-speed access
By Jeff Pelline
March 7, 1997, 12 p.m. PT
High-speed connectivity is getting a
boost again, this time with a product that bypasses
switches of local phone companies such as Pacific
Bell.
On Wednesday, UUNet and its parent company
WorldCom are expected to announce the national
rollout of higher-speed Net access over traditional
phone lines, sources told CNET today. Dubbed
"IDSL," the product is a hybrid of ISDN and
xDSL.
The service, called "Preferred Access 128," will
be rolled out throughout the year. It will offer
faster, affordable Net access for businesses, and
to reduce the level of congestion on traditional
switched phone networks with a direct connection
to the Net.
Executives wouldn't comment until an
announcement at Spring Internet World, but some
details have begun to leak out. The technology,
which the company also calls "unswitched xDSL
service," was first outlined in December by UUNet
executives.
San Francisco is expected to be one of the first
markets for the launch, company sources said.
The service is jointly developed with computer
networking company Ascend Communications. It
will leverage the assets of WorldCom's growing
telecommunications empire: UUNet, with its
Internet backbone, and MFS Communications,
which has a local phone network.
UUNet and WorldCom are likely to use the
product as ammo in the ongoing debate about how
to reduce Net congestion. UUNet executives will
discuss regulatory issues surrounding the launch
during Tuesday's announcement.
The combination technology is a potent threat to
regional Bell operating companies, such as Pacific
Bell, which is offering competiting services.
The Baby Bells want Internet service providers to
help pay the cost of upgrading their networks,
which they say are being overtaxed by Net use.
ISPs are balking, however, and the Federal
Communications Commission has the final say
over whether to impose the so-called Net access
fees. FCC Chairman Reed Hundt opposes such
fees. |
