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

To: Neal Hopper who wrote (9047)	1/21/1998 5:58:00 PM
From: MangoBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

[Bell Atlantic in talks for high-speed data acccess] what does this mean for WSTL? ----- NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Bell Atlantic Corp (NYSE:BEL) said it is in talks to join a consortium of computer industry heavyweights and Baby Bell companies seeking to provide higher speed Internet access using regular telephone lines. As reported by the New York Times on Tuesday, Compaq Computer Corp (NYSE:CPQ), Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) have joined with four regional Bell companies and GTE Corp (NYSE:GTE) to set new standards for digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. "Bell Atlantic agrees with the consortium objectives as they relate to delivering DSL technology to market quickly and affordably through the promotion of standards," the company said in a prepared statement. Bell Atlantic said it has been in discussions with the group for several weeks and it is finalizing plans to join the venture before it is formally announced next week. At next week's ComNet telecommunications conference in Washington, D.C., Compaq, Intel and Microsoft are expected to announced support for a high-speed digital PC modem that works over traditional copper telephone wires.

To: Neal Hopper who wrote (9047)	1/21/1998 10:36:00 PM
From: Skiawal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

Bell Atlantic and Lucent join forces to deploy ADSL. Only word missing from the article was "Westell"... nj.com Bell Atlantic, Lucent will join the march toward fast modems 01/21/98 Kevin Coughlin STAFF WRITER Bell Atlantic and Lucent Technologies said yesterday they plan to join with other telecom companies and with leading companies in the computer industry to promote standardization of new modems that use ordinary phone lines to communicate with the Internet at speeds 30 times faster than the fastest modem in common use today. The effort to promote standards is being led by Intel, the world's biggest producer of microprocessors; Microsoft, the leader in desktop software; and Compaq, one of the biggest computer manufacturers. All three stand to gain from faster Internet connections, as such connections would tend to promote use of more powerful computers. For their part, the phone companies see the new technology -- called ADSL, for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line -- as an important counter to cable modems, already available from several of the country's major cable companies, including Comcast in New Jersey. Cable modems offer consumers Internet connection speeds comparable to those promised by ADSL. Industry insiders expect the ADSL consortium to announce their push for standardization next week, in Washington. Analysts say standards are vital to ensure compatibility of ADSL modems. Spokespersons for Microsoft, Intel and Compaq would not discuss the companies' plans. But Bill Kula of the GTE Corp. confirmed that GTE and four regional Bell phone companies are participating in the group. Bell Atlantic would be the fifth regional Bell, Kula said. Bell Atlantic, which provides local phone service from Maine to Virginia, has tested ADSL since 1993 and anticipates offering it, at rates "competitive" with cable modems, as early as mid-year. The company could not yesterday precisely when or where the service would be available. "It's safe to say New Jersey will be a significant player," said Bell Atlantic's Shannon Fioravanti. Lucent spokesman Mike Jacobs said the Murray Hill company has been talking with the computer companies for several weeks. "We anticipate joining the group," said Jacobs, "but we haven't signed anything yet." Lucent has much to gain if ADSL takes off. This week it announced a new computer chip called WildWire, which would be used in such modems. The chip is based on a slimmed-down version of ADSL technology that some insiders dub "DSL Lite"; Rockwell Semiconductor has a similar product. Full-blown ADSL offers up to 8 megabits of information per second -- that's 8 million bits of data. By comparison, today's 56K modems transmit slightly less than 56,000 bits per second. But full ADSL is complicated to set up. The phone company has to dispatch someone to your house, make sure your phone lines are in good shape, and install sophisticated equipment to split voice from data. While DSL Lite delivers only 1.5 million bits per second -- still blazing fast compared to standard modems -- it's much simpler. It splits signals in your PC to let you speak and surf at the same time. "This is a plug-and-play solution," said Ann Jansen of the ADSL Forum, a 300-company association. Microsoft is covering all the bases. It invested $1 billion last year in Comcast, the nation's fourth-largest cable television company and a strong proponent of cable modems. Microsoft also has been testing ADSL at its campus in Redmond, Wash., in a trial with the GTE Corp. Comcast introduced $39.95 monthly cable modem service to New Jersey last April; the service is now available in 51 towns in Middlesex, Union, Essex, Mercer and Monmouth counties, enabling customers to download information from the Internet at speeds ranging from 500,000 to 2.3 million bits per second. GTE's Kula expects ADSL monthly service to cost between $50 and $125 a month, with the modems costing about $250. He says the technology has two advantages over cable modems: People trust phone companies more than cable providers, and ADSL lines give you bandwidth completely under your control, while cable modems divide the available bandwidth among other subscribers in your neighborhood. Comcast Vice President Joe Waz said the cable industry has a valuable head start in the modem competition, with about 100,000 cable modem subscribers nationwide.