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

To: Curlton Latts who wrote (8315)	12/17/1997 8:42:00 AM
From: jim detwiler	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

Good recap2 GTE announced on November 17 that it will begin ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line) service in southern California through GTE's competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) business unit. Service for up to 1,000 lines initially will be available for multitenant property owners in Marina del Ray at the Mariners Village apartment complex. The service will be marketed as ADSL OnSite and GTE will use Westell's FlexCap2 RADSL (rate adaptive digital subscriber line) system. This system enables downstream transmission rates from 680 kbps-1.5 mbps and upstream rates of 256-384 kbps. Internet access and equipment will be provided by GTE Internetworking. Furthermore, over the next year, GTE plans to offer the ADSL OnSite service commercially in key markets throughout the U.S. This announcement is the beginning of a multiyear contract arrangement between GTE's CLEC unit and Westell. The service will be priced differently according to residential and business service applications. The rates and features of each as described by GTE are listed below. ú Residential service will be priced at $125 per month with an installation fee of $250. Transmission rates will be 680 kbps downstream and 256 kbps upstream, and the service will include unlimited Internet access, e-mail, newsgroups, 5 megabytes of drive space on a Web server for a home page, 1 e-mail mailbox, ADSL modem rental and 24/7 technical support. ú Business service will be priced at $700 per month with an initial installation fee of $500. Transmission rates will be 1.5 mbps downstream and 384 kbps upstream. The service includes unlimited Internet access, e-mail, newsgroups, 5 megabytes of drive space on a Web server for a home page, 5 e-mail mailboxes, ADSL modem rental, and 24/7 network monitoring and technical support. In the past several weeks, three other companies have announced commercial availability of ADSL service. The services and prices offered by SBC, Pacific Bell and U S West are listed below. ú U S West announced at the end of October that it began commercial DSL "MegaBit Services" in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. There are several different service packages available addressing a wide customer base, including residential users, home office, small office, businesses and Internet service providers. The prices for the various services range from $40-1,600 per month based on the speeds desired for the various applications. This service is currently available and demand has been stronger than anticipated. PairGain (PAIR-23 3/8--"strong buy") is supplying the equipment for this service. ú Pacific Bell announced on November 13 that it will begin offering commercial DSL service to thousands of customers in the San Francisco area, specifically the Peninsula, East Bay and South Bay. The "FasTrak DSL" service will cost $125 to install and between $80-250 per month based on speed and application (residential or business) for unlimited service. However, the costs continue to build when Internet service provider (ISP) and DSL equipment fees are added. The ISP fee is approximately $95 per month and users don't have many options due to the necessity of subscribing to an ISP with an ATM backbone, of which there are currently only a few in the area. The DSL equipment fees are approximately $660 for residential users; we anticipate that this cost will decline as commercial deployment grows. Alcatel equipment currently is being used at Pacific Bell but, when we inquiredabout signing up for the service, we were told that other vendors' equipment should be available mid-1998. ú SBC also announced on November 14 that it will begin offering ADSL services in November with a limited commercial offering in Austin, TX. Also called "FasTrak DSL," the prices will range from $150-250 per month based on the speed desired and which applications are used. The SBC service also is using an Alcatel-based DSL system. It is important to remember that this contract is for GTE's CLEC division, which will be offering ADSL services both outside and inside GTE's service areas. A decision as to the xDSL equipment supplier for strictly inside GTE's service area is pending and probably won't be announced until the practice of wholesaling high bandwidth in-region is settled along with other local access, regulatory issues. In the meantime, GTE's CLEC unit is not waiting for regulatory approval, and is planning to start offering services in markets in which it will have an advantage that has evolved with its work with Westell.