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Technology Stocks : America On-Line: will it survive ...? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (6891)	1/20/1998 2:31:00 PM
From: Alec Epting	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13594

The cost of the modem is expected to be in the $200 - $250 range. ADSL has the advantage over cable in that it is two-way. Most cable systems are one-way. A telephone line is still required for the uplink. Cable is much faster though on the downlink, as much as 30 Mbps v. 1.5 from ADSL. If your friend is downloading movies, cable is the way to go, but for most Internet apps, ADSL is sufficient. For ADSL to work your home must be within 2 miles from the central office (80% of homes are). This is not much of a disadvantage since fewer homes are wired for cable than phone lines anyway. I believe both will coexist but the phone companies will probably win out near term since cable still requires the phone connection. And there is no need now to download movies. You make another valid point. Phone companies have much deeper pockets than AOL. They are known for reliability (even during storms) and have brand name recognition as well. So much for the AOL brand. And BTW, don't expect AOL to be bought out by the phone companies. They already have their subscribers and wouldn't want to dilute their earnings with AOL's exorbitant P/E.