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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ftth who wrote (5556)	10/14/1999 10:28:00 AM
From: Secret_Agent_Man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

European Last Mile Access Doubts Buried Blizzard of announcements at Telecom 99 bury last mile jitters Carl Weinschenk, tele.com Any doubt that broadband last mile access is reaching Europe was buried, no doubt permanently, under a blizzard of announcements this week at Telecom 99. The announcements focused on digital subscriber line (DSL) and wireless local loop (WLL). The other major broadband access technique-cable modems-will be more prominently displayed in London next week during European Cable Communications '99. If what was displayed in Geneva represents a only a portion of the emerging class of broadband last mile access choices, it is indeed a rosy picture. "I am absolutely convinced broadband will become big in both consumer and business-to-business applications because people are reaching the limits of current technology," said Marco Wanders, the regional manager the Benelux countries for Redback Networks Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.). The reality is that that the last mile is the bottleneck is receding, said Dan Arazi, executive vice president of Rocket Communications Ltd. (Tel Aviv). "I think this is the case of the past," he said. "Now it's a question of how best to do it, not whether or when." Arazi will chair a panel discussion on local access issues called "Access Networks-Wireline Access" Friday at 2 PM. There were announcements from big and small companies alike at Telecom 99. Telekom Austria awarded a contract for 20,000 Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) lines to Alcatel. Two vendors-Alcatel and VDSL Systems Inc. (Espoo, Finland)-showed very high-speed digital access (VDSL) gear. Rocket announced the availability of splitterless full-rate DSL during the show. Alcatel used the show to announce that it is suing Rocket for patent infringement. On the loosely-defined wireless local loop (WLL) front, Spike Technologies Inc. (Nashua, N.H.) announced the customization of its PRIZM BDS System 3000 for the European market. Alcatel introduced a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) and said that the first product for the customer is KPN Belgium. BreezeCOM Ltd. (Tel Aviv) demonstrated its recently introduced IP-based broadband WLL system. Adaptive Broadband Communications (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Jetstream Communications (Los Gatos, Calif.) announced a wireless voice-over-asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) system. Finally, Floware Wireless Systems Ltd. (Or Yehuda, Israel) announced that it had increased the capacity of its WALKair wireless broadband access system, which is aimed at small and medium sized businesses, by a factor of ten. How intensely network service providers deploy these and other platforms depends on several factors, including: whether the national PTT is divesting its cable networks; the penetration of Personal Computers; level of interest in the Internet; the condition of the country existing copper infrastructure; and the technical and business health of the cable television providers. DSL and cable modems are estimated to be a year to 18 months behind similar efforts in the US. Sharp competition between cable modem and DSL providers is expected in Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland and France because the national PTTs do not own the cable companies in those countries, cable tends to be well penetrated-about 97 percent of households in the Netherlands get cable, for example--and the networks are relatively new and easily upgradeable to two-way operation, said Mats Samuelsson, director of product management for Motorola. The Benelux countries are also rolling out ADSL, Wanders said. Not surprisingly, countries in which the PTTs don't face cable competition are moving slower. In the U.S., carriers moved slowly in order to protect their T-1 revenues, while European incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are more protective of their ISDN services. The fact that the U.S. has already been through similar growing pains is helping Europe, executives said. "After the Telecom Act of 1996, there was confusion in the marketplace," said Hans-Erhard Reiter, the chairman of the ADSL Forum. "People didn't understand the business case. I think what you see in Europe and elsewhere is that people are looking at the U.S. and trying to understand what the hell happened." The fortunes of DSL will be further enhanced by the introduction of G.Lite gear around Christmas, Reiter said. Among the most aggressive companies are TeleDanmark and Telia. Plans exist for rollouts in Austria, France, Portugal and elsewhere, he said. Reiter expects about 70,000 DSL lines to be installed by the end of 1999. telecom99news.itu.int