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

To: Trey McAtee who wrote (8276)	12/13/1997 8:56:00 PM
From: bill c.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

[ Optimism and obstacles at ADSL Forum ] Advocates stay clear-eyed and vigilant about future KATHLEEN CHOLEWKA, Switching & Transmission Editor Will 1998 be the year for asymmetrical digital subscriber line? Supporters of the technology say it better be. "If we don't [take advantage of the need for broadband services], another market will," said Flynn Nogueira, director of DSL at GTE, during the ADSL Forum meeting in San Francisco last week. Carriers, vendors and analysts at the summit were optimistic about mass deployment but remained realistic about the obstacles that lie ahead. Ameritech claimed it will have nearly 15,000 ADSL lines up and running next year, and BellSouth plans to install 28,000 lines in 1998. "Our forecasts of customer demand were underrated," said Alan White, program manager at BellSouth. <Picture: amrp8fig1.gif (14842 bytes)> Still, ADSL advocates shared problems surrounding ADSL services. Power requirements for equipment, spectrum compatibility with other technologies, availability and loop qualification are still unresolved issues. Avoiding extensive installation at customer sites is also a concern. Carriers agreed that customer service would help differentiate their services, but questions on flexible billing and packaged services remain unsettled. And although interoperability is one of the ADSL Forum's missions, analyst Daniel Briere, president of TeleChoice, said it is less than crucial. "Interoperability is important because it drives prices down," he said. "But I don't see non-compatible systems preventing mass deployment." Microsoft, which has recently endorsed the cable TV industry with a $1 billion investment in Comcast, outlined its assessment of ADSL's success. The software giant, which demonstrated its $300 WebTV package at the meeting, outlined its ideal ADSL modem, stressing the need for a customer-friendly product. "Anything else will fail," said Craig Mundie, senior vice president at Microsoft. The company plans to partner with telcos to work on provisioning DSL services, he said. internettelephony.com