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.

Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockHawk who wrote (16929)	2/1/2000 5:13:00 PM
From: Eric Jacobson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

Re: HLIT Project Hunt StockHawk, thank you for the kind words. I learned a lot more than I thought I knew about both the FM and the company by going through this process. You're observations about cable modem speeds not being "as advertised," and only marginally faster than DSL due to shared bandwidth are probably on target. The number I cited (50x) was straight from the literature and probably represents the speed in an ideal situation. Just like my 56k modem, the actual speeds achieved by the typical user are probably much lower. The problem with the @Home service I cited occured several years ago in the SF Bay area when @Home's service was actually measured to be slower than a 56k modem for a period of time. Needless to say, the customers were upset that they were getting such poor performance from a company that is supposed to sell "high-speed" internet access. This problem is characteristic of the industry, which is dominated by companies that historically have been operating mini-monopolies. They aren't innovators, and they only do the bare minimum at the lowest possible cost only after their customers scream bloody murder. Hopefully, increased competition will make them realize they need to do a better job of providing better services. I don't know enough about the ownership of the LightWire technology to fully answer your question. I agree it is worth watching because widespread adoption of this standard may catapult HLIT into being a King. If an MSO other than AT&T wanted to replicate it, I believe they could do this by ordering components from HLIT or specifying similar components from another vendor. I am not completely certain on this point or if Lightwire can become a proprietary open standard, but I'd be glad to check with the company and get back to you. Eric