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To: MikeM54321 who wrote (8989)	10/23/2000 2:03:06 PM
From: caly	Respond to of 12823

Oops. Monday October 23 01:16 PM EDT Windows ME Knocks Out DSL By Brian Ploskina, Inter@ctive Week Many digital subscriber line users who have moved from Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system to Windows Millennium Edition have found their communications have dropped back to the Stone Age due to incompatible drivers that turn DSL modems into useless appendages. The problem is most acute for customers of the former Baby Bells, which tend to provide installation kits with software incompatible with Windows ME. "It appears that some ISP [Internet service provider]/DSL providers have not yet distributed updated versions of their client software," said a representative at Microsoft. "Microsoft is working closely with ISPs/DSL providers to ensure their customers have the most updated software, which ensures the best experience possible." Todd Davis, director of consumer broadband marketing at BellSouth, said BellSouth call centers have experienced a noticeable increase in service calls relating to compatibility problems. "We also get calls up front from [prospective] customers who've just purchased a new PC with Millennium [preinstalled] and who wish to order [DSL] service," Davis said. A representative at Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - news) confirmed similar problems. Customers of the incumbent carriers are more likely to have the problem because those carriers have most of the consumer accounts, and Windows ME is a consumer operating system, said Tom Willie, director of strategic accounts at Efficient Networks, a DSL modem manufacturer. "Typically, the service providers are somewhat lagging in their ability to support operating systems out of the shoot," Willie said. Willie said DSL modem companies such as Efficient are typically ahead of the curve when a new OS is released - as was the case with Windows ME - so that providers can get to work on getting software to customers. Subscribers who are tech-savvy enough can usually download the drivers for the modem they have directly from the equipment manufacturer. Davis said BellSouth will have full support for Windows ME in the fourth quarter. "It's a real concern of mine that we're not already there, because we have the holiday season with folks buying PCs with Millennium already loaded on them, and we want to support those customers as well, so we're working to get this done," he said. dailynews.yahoo.com

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (8989)	10/23/2000 2:19:33 PM
From: Bernard Levy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Hi Mike: From an implementation point of view, DSL in its ADSL/DMT flavor was definitively not ready to roll out 7 or 8 years ago. The DMT technology was made implementable by the current generation of DSPs that were introduced in 97/98 by Texas Instruments and others. I think that the picture is similar on the cable modem side. Competition came at a time when the RBOCs and cable operators had finally adequate weapons in their hands. Best regards, Bernard Levy

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (8989)	10/23/2000 2:33:17 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 12823

Mike, like I stated in my upstream message, T's role has been very significant, but it hasn't been the only influence. You site DSL's readiness 8 years ago? About 7 ot 8 years ago the Internet was still a tool based in unix shell applications, and DSL was intended to deliver video program content to compete with pre-HFC cable. Neither presented much of a threat to the other, as a result. DSL wasn't even intended, then, to do what it does now. DSLAMs, if you could call the early versions of central office dsl units such, were limited to 8 and 16 port capacities, whereas they now boast thousands. But these were not integrated units with common equipment and unified network management and provisioning. They were, instead, merely standalone modems in the central office that were housed in slotted nests in order to economize on rack space. It's an entirely different set of assumptions today. The only vestige that remains from those days can be found in the Phoenix VDSL operation. Other forms of video are now making their presence felt on DSL, such as ENRON/BB and so-ho/telecommuting/video conferencing on symmetric grades of the service, but these were spawned by streaming technologies that were IMO in turn actually spawned, likewise, by the 'Net, and would have occurred with or without the catalyst of competition. Although, granted, probably considerably later in time. One can view the explosion of residential broadband as being in part fostered by T's actions, no doubt. But there has been a lot more taking place to influence this domain than T's singular moves. In my book the Internet's role has been more significant than that of T's. The 'Net, in fact, was even at the root of what influenced T's move into "Broadband," seeing the need to bundle it with video and voice after the many fruitless years of trying to get into the loop resale business with the ILECs, in their failed hope of bundling local and long distance using that venue, instead. In sum, yes.. T's role was very important, but it was not seminal in nature. That is, it wasn't the only or even the most important factor responsible for today's explosive broadband uptake. IMHO, the rapid proliferation of the 'Net population and new 'Net-centric technologies -- which increasingly don't work at all on DUN and ISDN rate pipes -- was the primary catalyst. The influence of the 'Net is so "with us" today that we sometimes fail to see it anymore, for what it is and what it has been. FAC