Has this been posted? BCTel launches ADSL service.
January 19, 1998
High-speed ADSL services launched
Burnaby, B.C. -- BC TELECOM unveiled today affordable, high-speed data services which will enable consumers, teleworkers and students in many areas of British Columbia to surf the Internet or access computer networks up to 150 times faster than with conventional modems.
The services, called BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway, use asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) technology to deliver data and images at lightning-fast speeds over existing copper telephone wires.
BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway provides "downstream" speeds of one to four megabits per second and "upstream" speeds of 160 to 640 kilobits per second. At four megabits per second, 200 pages of text can be downloaded in less than one second, and a typical World Wide Web page with graphics and text can be downloaded in less than one-tenth of a second.
BC TELECOM is offering a consumer service in partnership with 12 Internet service providers, including SympaticoT (please see attached news release). BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway for Sympatico customers costs $64.95 per month and includes Internet service, the rental of an ADSL modem and access to the Sympatico High Speed Zone. Linked to the Sympatico Web site, the Sympatico High Speed Zone features information and resources, including news clips and sports highlights, designed for its high-speed Internet customers.
BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway is available in selected areas of greater Vancouver, Oak Bay (Victoria area) and the south end of Kamloops. It will be introduced gradually in other parts of greater Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George, Nanaimo and Vernon as the new technology is installed throughout 1998. BC TELECOM plans to offer BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway to more customers in those communities and expand to other regions in 1999.
"This is by far the best high-speed Internet service for consumers available in British Columbia today," said Roy Osing, BC TELECOM's senior vice-president of marketing. "Many of our customers have been waiting for this service with great anticipation and we're pleased to begin delivering it now. Although we cannot make it available everywhere at once, we are introducing BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway in areas where there has traditionally been the greatest demand."
"We believe interest in BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway will initially be limited to very avid Internet users," Osing added. "However, it won't be too long before its popularity grows at a dramatic pace, similar to the growth of the dial-up Internet industry."
Regular telephone service uses less then one per cent of a telephone line's capacity. ADSL uses the remaining 99-per cent capacity to deliver data and images quickly. The technology is ideal for Internet use because it provides enough speed to send e-mail and page requests upstream, and faster speeds for downloading larger pages with images, animation, audio and video.
BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway customers can talk on the phone while surfing the Internet on the same telephone line. Once an ADSL modem is installed, it stays on. That means users have immediate access and don't have to seek a connection every time they want to use the Internet or a corporate local area network (LAN).
In addition, there are no line-ups or traffic jams with ADSL technology because each user has a dedicated high-speed pipeline, unlike other high-speed alternatives which must be shared among users. The dedicated pipeline not only provides faster access, it's more reliable and secure than shared networks. For example, there's no need to add extra security features to prevent others from reading e-mail messages or other personal information.
BC TELECOM is also introducing services for teleworkers and educational institutions, which provide fast, secure connections to the Internet as well as corporate local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs).
BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway for Teleworkers provides two options: a direct corporate computer connection and a secure Internet connection. The monthly costs will vary according to usage, location and the type of security features used. Other capabilities, such as Internet faxing and video conferencing, will be available to teleworkers later this year.
BC TELECOM will also provide WAN connectivity for schools and high-speed Internet access for students and teachers. The Surrey School District will be the first educational institution in British Columbia to use BC TEL MultiMedia for Education. As part of a five-year partnership with BC TELECOM, the school district will link 118 schools and administrative offices in Surrey to a high-speed telecommunications network. Part of that network will use ADSL technology to connect 70 elementary schools to each other and the Internet.
High-speed educational resources and full-motion video conferencing are some of the ADSL-based capabilities that will be available to educational institutions in the near future.
For more information or to sign up for BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway:
ú residential customers, adsl@bctel.ca. Or call 1-888-298-4884 or (in Greater Vancouver) 298-4884.
ú teleworkers and school administrators, call 1-800-859-0904 or (in Greater Vancouver) 454-1447.
Fact sheet
The speeds of BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway:
Downstream speeds of one to four megabits per second and upstream speeds of 160 to 640 kilobits per second.
The cost of BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway for SympaticoT customers:
ú $64.95 per month for residential customers (includes Internet service and ADSL modem rental)
The availability of BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway:
ú It is available in selected areas of greater Vancouver, Oak Bay (near Victoria) and the south end of Kamloops. It will be introduced gradually to other parts of greater Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George and Kelowna as the new technology is installed throughout 1998. There are plans to offer it to more customers in those communities and expand to other regions in 1999.
What is needed to use BC TEL MultiMedia Gateway:
ú A personal computer (Macintosh Power PC, Pentium 100 multimedia or faster)
ú An interface card (an Ethernet 10 BaseT card)
ú A CD-ROM drive
ú Windows 95, NT 95, Macintosh OS 7.5.3 or newer versions
What is next:
ú ADSL technology will be able to deliver more than just text and images. As speeds increase, new and more sophisticated applications like video-on-demand and video conferencing will be available.
The technical limitations of ADSL technology:
ú The major technical limitation with ADSL is distance. Customers who live more than four kilometres from the nearest telephone switching office may not be able to take advantage of ADSL technology. That's because ADSL has only enough power to transmit data very quickly through copper wires over a limited distance.
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