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

To: ftth who wrote (5954)	11/13/1999 9:42:00 PM
From: JGoren	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12823

FCC Expected To Order Line Sharing For DSL Carriers By Aaron Pressman, Reuters 12 November 1999 totaltele.com High-speed Internet service over telephone lines should get a boost next week from the Federal Communications Commission, industry officials said on Thursday. The agency is expected to order major local carriers, such as Bell Atlantic Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., to share their lines and allow competitors to offer high-speed data service while the established carrier continues to offer basic voice service to the same customer. So-called line sharing could dramatically reduce the monthly fees upstart data carriers have to pay the major local carriers for leasing use of the copper wires that run into the homes and businesses of customers. Under current rules, data carriers have to pay the full cost of a line even if they only want to offer high-speed Internet connections. The largest data-oriented upstart carriers are NorthPoint Communications Group Inc., Covad Communications Group Inc. and Rhythms NetConnections Inc. All of the new companies, as well as the Bells, rely on Digital Subscriber Line technology to speed Internet connections. DSL transmits information over an ordinary phone line in frequencies that cannot be heard by the human ear and are not typically used by regular voice traffic. The most popular versions of DSL are limited to customers living within about three miles of a phone company central switching office and offer speeds 50 to 100 times faster than ordinary modems. So far, DSL deployment has lagged behind the cable industry's roll-out of high-speed Internet service over cable wires. About 250,000 people subscribe to DSL compared to more than a million cable modem users, according to analysts. The FCC's order is expected to be adopted at a public meeting next week but could be delayed at the last minute. It would likely set a price for carriers wanting to split a line with a major carrier. Major carriers were seeking a 50-50 split, allowing competing DSL providers to lease a line for half the charge of the whole line. Competitors sought a more lopsided split with a data discount of as much as 90 percent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- I think wireless may have trouble competing with DSL or cable in hilly areas. In flat areas, such as Dallas, wireless would probably have an advantage; hilly areas, cable and DSL should be the dominant carrier. Comments appreciated ....

To: ftth who wrote (5954)	11/13/1999 10:49:00 PM
From: axial	Respond to of 12823

Dave - Couple of quick notes on your informative response: - "legitimate and unbiased" - good point. There's no such thing, same as the news. The best you can hope for is a known and predictable bias, I guess. I attributed too much to the term "white paper"; my reaction was naive. - "BRCM" - coincidentally, had just begun DD from an investment viewpoint, and they certainly seem to be capable of doing what you state. I'm not sure about the $50 price point, though I am sure that if it was critical to gaining market share, that $50 figure would be accomodated. - "MAC" - Aaargh! The whole MAC question is the subject of this weekend's research; what you say about the VOFDM crowd's position is true. And if AB's position is untrue, I'm not sure whether it matters, in the context of the WOFDM/VOFDM Wi-LAN/Cisco comparison. It seems to be of neutral importance. My initial reaction to the negatives on this paper was uninformed, and wrong. I attributed the comments to a strong pro-American bias in evaluating foreign technology. With respect to my comments on the Wi-LAN thread, I was wrong, and I apologize. However, there are other points of interest in this paper: the fact that Wi-LAN's alternative exists, now. One wonders how much of the VOFDM initiative is a vaporware-like effort to forestall inroads into the US market by WOFDM. There is a body of informed opinion (some of whom are not WIN investors) who doubt that the VOFDM system, with its antennas and computational overheads, etc., can be an cost-effective equal to WOFDM. Blah, blah... Peter Ecclesine was right. Time will tell. Thanks, Dave. Jim

To: ftth who wrote (5954)	11/14/1999 8:43:00 AM
From: Peter Ecclesine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Hi Dave, A pointer to the recent IEEE 802.16 MAC and PHY submittals for LMDS fixed wireless: grouper.ieee.org MAC grouper.ieee.org PHY Several companies are working on DOCSIS 1.1 variants as suitable MACs. The below 10GHz study group will start in January. petere