[GTE Rollout]
Hi Pat,
Welcome back from Comdex.
I had the same reaction, i.e. great disappointment, over the recent GTE announcement; especially in regards to the scope of the offering and the pricing. This is certainly not the mass deployments we were looking for. About the only consolation is that this is GTE's CLEC initial rollout plan. As an Amati investor and a phone customer in GTE's service area, I was certainly curious about GTE ILEC deployment plans. As I previously mentioned, my anticipation was boosted when I received an ADSL survey from GTE back in August:
techstocks.com
Last week I decided to email an inquiry to GTE's ADSL group concerning their deployment plans. I specifically inquired about the deployment schedule as well as the pricing structure, indicating my strong interest in the service given a reasonable pricing plan. I got the following response, from Jack Lawrence of their xDSL office, today; it may be of interest to this thread:
<<<
Dear Edward:
GTE is not yet offering ADSL service commercially, but is studying information obtained from ADSL trials completed in Texas, and those underway with Microsoft in Washington, Duke University in Durham, N. C., and with Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. In fact we're adding 1000 more Microsoft employees to this trial, making it the largest trial of its kind in the world. You'll be interested to know that the trial participants told us they just loved the service, and GTE is very excited about ADSL technology and the solutions that it will enable for our customers. Using this information, plus assessments of the market potential, deployment logistics such as where and when to make it commercially available, competitive offerings, and regulatory issues, GTE hopes to provide a service that will make our customers as happy as our trial participants have been!
GTE plans to start deploying ADSL service in major market areas in the latter part of 1997, with additional deployment throughout 1998 and beyond. GTE has not established firm costs at this point, but general market research indicates basic ADSL service should be $60 to $100 a month, including the ADSL modems. This means that you won't need to worry about purchasing a modem, which currently costs over $1000 retail. To obtain service, all a customer will need is an adequately configured PC with an Ethernet card, and TCP/IP protocol software. First time set up charges would be similar to charges for existing digital access services such as ISDN. We think ADSL service will be a bargain for the increased speed it will give our customers. You'll be seeing a lot more "concrete" information in the next couple of months - bear with us. GTE wants to make sure that we roll out ADSL correctly, so it's truly easy for you to order and use.
If you are interested in keeping up with ADSL developments in general, and have not already checked them, you may want to visit the following sites from time to time:
1. gte.com = GTE's ADSL Web page
for announcements of future deployment and pricing.
2. adsl.com = The ADSL Forum home page.
This site is filled with useful technical and other
information on ADSL. It also lists the Forum
members, including all major ADSL vendors, many
with excellent home pages.
3. home1.gte.net = This is the ADSL
section of Todd Ogasawara's personal site, which
contains information on computer telephony and
ADSL/xDSL.
4. telechoice.com = This is
Telechoice's home page, which contains information
and references to reports on xDSL.
Thank you for your interest in ADSL and GTE. We're placing your name on a list of people to be contacted when more information on ADSL by GTE becomes available.
Jack Lawrence, for the GTE xDSL Office
>>>
Several points I noticed in his response, perhaps you or others care to comment on them as well:
-- <<GTE to start ADSL deployment in major market areas in latter part of 1997, additional deployment throughout 1998.>>
Latter part of 1997, is that the CLEC announcement they just made??? Or is he reffering only to future ILEC deployments? I hope he was only talking about ILEC deployments, 1000 residential units in Marina Del Rey certainly doesn't sound like "major market" deployment. Could we be looking at a further, surprise announcement from GTE before the end of the year? I think we should, if they really are going to start deployment in 1997.
-- <<market research indicates basic ADSL service should be $60 to $100 a month, including the ADSL modems. This means that you won't need to worry about purchasing a modem, which currently costs over $1000 retail.>>
Now this is getting closer to the kinds of pricing structure I was hopping for. $60 is not bad, considering it includes a rather expensive ADSL modem.
-- <<We think ADSL service will be a bargain for the increased speed it will give our customers. You'll be seeing a lot more "concrete" information in the next couple of months - bear with us. GTE wants to make sure that we roll out ADSL correctly, so it's truly easy for you to order and use.>>
Kind of make me feel like these guys are just as anxious to proceed with the rollout and put out an announcement as we are. Looks like they want to be extra carefull to "guarantee" a bullet-proof rollout of the service. I am hoping they will go gangbusters once they start. "Concrete" info in the next couple of months? Hey, we might even hear something substantive before 1998!
Does the above response match what you've been hearing on the Grapevine?
Regards,
Edward |
