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

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1633)	5/19/2000 1:05:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 1782

5-17-00: Time Warner Plans to Purchase GST Telecom Assets Time Warner Telecom Inc. today announced it has executed a letter of intent to purchase substantially all of the assets of GST Telecommunications, Inc. (GST) for $450 million in cash. It is anticipated that the purchase would be implemented in Chapter 11 proceedings, which GST will institute today in filings for its U.S. subsidiaries with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The purchase is subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court, the execution and delivery of a definitive purchase agreement, satisfactory completion of due diligence, state and federal regulatory approval, and other customary terms and conditions. "Our proposed acquisition of the assets of GST is an opportunity to extend and accelerate our previously stated geographic expansion strategy," said David Rayner, Time Warner Telecom's Sr. Vice President and CFO. "Time Warner Telecom has an established track record of building and operating optical networks and we look forward to bringing this experience to bear upon GST assets." For more information, visit www.twtelecom.com.

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1633)	5/19/2000 6:03:00 PM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

Frank- I think the below Yahoo post ties in to our discussion about the legacy MAN. Sounds like this poster on Yahoo is a legacy fan like I am. His comments seem to echo what you have posted to me in response to my legacy MAN ponderings. Thanks. -MikeM(From Florida) PS Thanks Ken for the heads up and url. ___________________________ Guys, the literature is starting to fill up with optical vs Sonet and pure optical vs traditional IP networks. Mostly this is a result of technically naive writers trying to write stories about data networks after talking to some marketing type with an agenda. Communications networks grow by adding newer higher bandwidth technology at the center of the network and moving the older (usually slower) technology to the edge of the network. Sonet when it was introduced was much higher bandwidth (and reliability) than the older timedivision gear that it replaced (T1, T3, T*). Sonet at first was only used by the TELCOs for the core of their networks but as it became more accepted and price decreased, it spread to the outer limits of the TELCO networks. The old equipment wasnt scrapped, it is still in operation, It was moved to the edge of the network OR the bandwidth was leased/sold to other service providers at cut rate. Remember the old Sprint adds when sprint said they totally went optical and achieved better sound quality end to end (i.e. the old pin drop commercials). What they were saying is that they had totally displaced all older legacy equipment with Sonet at the core of their network. They didnt remove the older circuits, they leased them out to cut rate carriers. The new all optical push is just another itteration of expansion in the core. All optical cores will appear in the center of the big carrier networks and move Sonet to the fringe (i.e. metropolitan). That has been happening for the last 3 years. Next, all optical will move into the metro part of the network and move Sonet further toward the fringes. At each step there will be debate and noise created by both sides of the transition (i.e. all optical proponents and Sonet proponents). They wont affect what happens only the rate it happens at. We will see an all optical network in the core of networking very soon. It is as predictable as the sun rising tomorrow. But it will not be the endpoint. DWDM and optical cross connect have some problems with the huge granularity of their pipes vs. the granularity of the customer data at the edges of the network. That cant be solved with current technology. It can/will be solved many years in the future when there is optical logic circuitry small enough and dense enough to do intelligent packet switching in the core. At the point that becomes available a newer intelligent all optical core will displace the one we are seeing now at the core of large networks and this new technology will move to the fringe of the network. You have to understand that nothing is ever thrown away, it just migrates over time to a position dictated by its bandwidth/reliability metrics. The Central Office in Washington D.C. that handles all data/voice for downtown D.C. has some of the most antiquated equipment you can imagine. I have been in it doing hot staging for Interop when it was in D.C. Their is old relay switching gear and voice circuitry that predates T1 still installed and operational. Also there is some fairly modern switching gear and Sonet rings terminate there. THIS IS THE CO that handles the White House's circuits. Imagine what you will find in COs in places like Portland Maine, Burlington VT, Downtown Boston. These guys only retire something when it breaks or it gets so old that no one will tolerate it anymore (i.e. the old 115 baud teletype lines and equipment has finally disappeared from most COs). The changes at the core of the network have been a traditional and ongoing thing for 100 years of telephony. The real revolution is xDSL and Cable Modems which is happening at the edges of the network. Having the edge of the network expand connectivity to homes jump from 64k to multiple megabits is revolutionary. messages.yahoo.com