Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (29175)	9/5/1999 9:06:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Their big problem is getting the Regional Bells to get off their collective butts and crank up the ADSL. When this happens watch AOL roll. RBOCs deserve to be blamed for many things, but this is not one of them. Each of the RBOCs with which AOL has an agreement has already rolled out DSL. Each of them has tens of thousands of DSL customers, but none of those customers can choose AOL as an ISP because AOL hasn't seen fit to provide the service. AOL's only real broadband push so far has been to pursue delaying tactics with the lawyers and lobbyists with which they, like most Beltway companies, are heavily staffed. I really question whether AOL has the network to handle DSL or any other kind of broadband connection. Even though almost all of their infrastructure is leased from WCOM (which certainly does have the network), AOL has to make sure that their servers in Virginia that pump out their proprietary content are able to handle thousands of customers pulling and pushing data at speeds that will make them appear to the servers like hundreds of thousands of users. Maybe they can handle it. But their slow implementation of DSL indicates that they are facing challenges that are, perhaps, a bit beyond the company's feeble technical skills.