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Technology Stocks : Westell WSTL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Shaw who wrote (21310)	5/5/2003 9:22:48 AM
From: Michael F. Donadio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

In the New York Times today, the significance of the growing broadband deployment in both Korea and Japan are looked at: Japan goes High Speed: A tenfold increase in Connections nytimes.com America's Broadband Dream is Alive in Korea nytimes.com "Like many American broadband users, the Chos started out with what is called A.D.S.L., for asymmetric digital subscriber line, which is best at downloading data over broadband telephone networks. But they recently upgraded to a system that is even faster in both directions, making it easier to use interactive games and other two-way services. The lines, capable of speeds of up to 40 megabits per second, are much faster than anything commonly available in the United States, where 1 megabit to 3 megabit transmission rates are typical. High-speed digital access is creating businesses that were unworkable with ordinary dial-up connections. The Korean company Megastudy, for example, has built the country's biggest online test preparation school for college entrance exams, while KT and rival Hanaro Telecom sell accounting services over the Web to small businesses. But entertainment, as expected, is the big attraction, especially games and videos. In 2001, SBSi, the interactive division of the Seoul Broadcasting System, started charging 500 South Korean won (about 40 cents) a show to watch soap operas and other streaming video programs. The service has attracted 1.8 million registered users; 4,000 more sign up every day. The drama "All In," the true story of a Korean gambler who beat the odds in Las Vegas, drew 1.6 million viewers during its initial 24-episode run online; now 10,000 Koreans a day pay to see reruns on their computers".... At around $50 a month, broadband costs about twice as much in the United States as in Korea and Japan. Worse, broadband in the United States is slower and less suited for interactive entertainment and other two-way uses because it relies on an asymmetric system that receives data much faster than it can send it. The Bells say they are doing everything they can to promote broadband. But critics say the phone companies view broadband as more of a threat than an opportunity, so they have done little to rectify these problems. The phone companies "are a very powerful industry that spends enormous amount on lobbying," said Charles H. Ferguson, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who is working on a book on broadband. "They've been able to retard progress and competition." "If the prices for high-speed access were $25 or $27," said Joseph A. Crupi, vice president for broadband communication at Texas Instruments, "it would be a no-brainer."... Having seen how South Korea has turned itself into an Internet powerhouse, broadband advocates say that the United States risks losing out by not moving faster. "People must have access to high-speed Internet from home, as well as work," said Paul Saffo, a director of the Institute for the Future, a technology industry forecasting group in Menlo Park, Calif., "or we won't be full players in the global economy." ******** With Verizon lowering the cost of DSL come June to $35 and increasing bandwidth, the future for Westell may finally be brightening. DSL Firms Drop Prices to Compete** wired.com Mike