Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jhild who wrote (10764)	12/16/1997 1:33:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

More: ITU working to resolve 56K modem standard issues PC Week Online 12.15.97 An ITU study group has resolved two of the biggest issues standing in the way of a 56K-bps modem standard, making approval of a common specification next month more likely than ever. A subset of the International Telecommunications Union, at a meeting in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month, voted in favor of a compromise proposed by Intel Corp. that calls for the use of mapping technology from 3Com Corp. and spectral shaping from Motorola Inc. The ITU in September failed to resolve the contentious issue of which spectral shaping and mapping technology to implement in the standard. The resolution is a breakthrough for the 56K-bps standard, which has been divided for several months between two incompatible camps: 3Com's x2 technology and the K56Flex format jointly developed by Rockwell Semiconductor Systems Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. With these two issues resolved, observers believe a 56K-bps modem standard is drawing close. "It's never absolutely certain until it's done," said John Magill, chairman of the working party in charge of the standard and a consultant for Lucent Technologies . "But these were the two major issues holding things up, and they're out of the way now." The ITU is expected to pass the final 56K-bps modem standard at a meeting in Geneva in January, Magill said. If that happens, vendors are expected to be able to ship standards-based products by mid-1998, even though the specification would not be officially ratified until September. The standard will be a big relief to modem and chip-set vendors. "Modem prices have been declining so rapidly that it's taken the profit out of the business," said Will Strauss, an analyst at Forward Concepts Inc., in Tempe, Ariz. "They need to come out with a standard so [vendors] have an excuse to bring prices back up again." Even 3Com, whose x2 technology is not represented as strongly as K56Flex in the standard proposal, is happy with the progress. "We're pleased that we can move forward," said Neil Clemmons, vice president of marketing at 3Com's personal communications division, in Skokie, Ill. Officials from Rockwell, not surprisingly, were thrilled. "It's terrific; [several] issues have been resolved in favor of the Flex camp," said Vijay Parikh, vice president and general manager of the personal computing division at Rockwell, in Newport Beach, Ore. "We're delighted by this particular decision." Some vendors caution that work toward the standard is far from over. "All the major obstacles have been removed, but there are still some subtle issues," said Bahman Barazesh, technical manager for modem products at Lucent, in Middletown, N.J. "We have a good chance to settle this thing, but there is still work to be done." A standard for the new year would be good news for ISPs (Internet service providers). "As an ISP, I've held off putting in 56K because of the incompatible [technologies]," said Glenn Schimmelpfennig, president of Gatekeepers Internet Access, in Salt Lake City. "Now I'll put it in probably in February. "I've been thinking for months that it would be nice if the modem manufacturers would put aside their egos and come up with one," Schimmelpfennig said. "It's good for the end user. Everyone will be able to talk to each other, and this should move the industry forward." Editor's Note: Conspicuous by it's absence, one can only conclude that the Townshend Saga continues. o~~~ O