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Technology Stocks : Frank Coluccio Technology Forum - ASAP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (672)	12/7/1999 12:04:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

Article from Boardwatch: BATTLING BROADBAND: HOW MAJOR ISPs CAN COMPETE WITH CABLECOS by Mike Carl [Boardwatch] At first glance, the reason for the growing popularity of broadband service is the speed of the connection. But a recent study by cable provider MediaOne found another compelling reason. According to the study of cable modem usage by households in the Boston area last year, these families accessed the Internet up to 10 times more than dial-up users. They averaged 22.5 hours per week compared to an average of 4.7 hours per week for dial-up homes. The finding concluded that the always-on nature of the cable modem gives users access to the Internet without the irksome need to dial-up and created the sense that the computer was more of an appliance, like a refrigerator, that was taken for granted and used just as casually. Whatever the reason, cable ISPs are gaining on their dial-up brethren. @Home claims 66 percent of its subscribers come from AOL. Conversely, America Online says 22 percent of broadband subscribers also subscribe to AOL's $9.95 per month “bring your own access” plan. Even if @Home's 66 percent includes AOL's 22 percent, the hit to AOL is substantial. According to Jupiter Communications, AOL leads all service providers with more than 17 million subscribers and Microsoft's MSN is number two with about 1.8 million subscribers. If the take rate for @Home continues, the cable ISP should rack up 1.1 million paying customers by year-end. As @Home nears the million subscriber mark, the wake-up call to major dial-up ISPs has become considerably louder. FIGHTING BACK WITH DSL AND SATELLITE With the increasing penetration of always-on broadband service, today's top ISPs are faced with a limited set of infrastructure choices to migrate their existing dial-up customers. Dial-up ISPs most often choose some form of DSL. This spring Microsoft began trials of MSN Internet Access DSL in four U.S. cities, with plans to expand the service to “at least 20 major U.S. cities by this fall.” Along with Microsoft's alliances with Rhythms NetConnections and NorthPoint Communications (both include a co-branded MSN portal), Microsoft is taking an aggressive move to upgrade its service with always-on, high-speed connections. AOL is also making that move, forming partnerships with Bell Atlantic, SBC Communications and now Ameritech to deliver DSL broadband connectivity to its members. Since AOL's partnerships with the RBOCs are not exclusive, other ISPs are free to pursue similar arrangements with RBOCs and compete for the same households. Confronted not only with the growing penetration of Internet access on cable networks that are mostly closed off from ISPs, these ISPs must also face off against the “all-comers,” competition that has emerged in the DSL market. Lacking a major hold on any form of high-speed access, ISPs with the most market share at risk (AOL and MSN) have drawn up a few end-run strategies to retain their online users. One such end-run play is extending their services to devices such as wireless phones, palmtops and TVs.

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (672)	12/7/1999 2:46:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

re: Internet Operators Release Y2K Silent Night Press Release iops.org As an aside, note within the body of the release the confirmation of the original meaning of the terms MAE East and MAE West as being "Metropolitan Area Ethernets," as they were formerly coined by MFS back in '96, and not Metropolitan Area Exchanges. The MAEs have since been upgraded to FDDI, and then onto various faster and more efficient forms of local (in-house) and distance (WAN) transports since then, in an attempt to keep up with demand.