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To: BillyG who wrote (28845)	1/27/1998 8:51:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

What does DSL mean to cable modems. It means cable needs to deploy its boxes faster......................................... ijumpstart.com Broadband Bulletin DSL Competition for Cable Modems? No Problem! Stay the course is the advice for cable operators who might be panicked about the Universal ADSL Working Group's decision to pursue a standard digital subscriber loop technology. While the announcement of an alliance between RBOCs and Intel [INTC], Microsoft [MSFT] and Compaq [CPQ] could have a negative psychological impact on cable operators offering high-speed Internet access services, it shouldn't, says Deutsche Morgan Grenfell analyst Doug Shapiro. An accelerated deployment of high-speed services by RBOCs could "light a fire under cable operators to push deployments faster," he writes in a recent report. In addition, cable ops can piggyback off the marketing efforts of the phone companies, which will increase overall consumer awareness about high-speed services. "The more market there is for any product, the more potential there is in the marketplace." says Bruce Leichtman, a Yankee Group analyst. However, cable ops shouldn't take the news lightly. The presence of the RBOC/computer consortium means a faster rollout on the part of cable ops is necessary, he says. Just how serious the group is in pursuing standards and delivering product remains to be seen. But the RBOCs must confront technical hurdles first. The quality of the service is significantly lessened when the user is more than 10K feet, or about 2 miles, from the central office or network terminal. In addition, as much as 50% of local loop connections cannot support DSL, some industry estimates suggest. Offering DSL at rates of $100 or less, analysts and cable executives have said, could cannibalize the Bells' more profitable T-1 business, whose bills average $250-$1000/month for business customers. But Bell Atlantic [BEL] says it will market DSL to large and small businesses-and consumers. Today's DSL prices range from $80-$100 on the low end to several hundred dollars a month. Despite analysts' expectations of a pricier service, the consortium has proposed to offer DSL for about $45/month. Cable modems have time on their side. With about 110K customers to date, cable ops have a commanding lead over the 4K-7K customers DSL services claim. And the group doesn't expect widespread deployment of the technology until the end of 1999. That should buy cable ops some time to protect their lead, push forward with deployments and make a name for their services.

To: BillyG who wrote (28845)	1/28/1998 12:48:00 AM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

This Pentium II won't do softDVD.... Intel readies low-cost Pentium II By Michael Kanellos January 27, 1998, 6:15 p.m. PT Intel (INTC) is expected to release its Pentium II for sub-$1,000 consumer PCs in April, setting the stage for a raft of new home computers based on Intel's fastest chip architecture. The chip, code-named Covington, is a "cacheless" Pentium II processor, meaning that Intel has eliminated the extra, pricey memory currently built into Pentium II chips. One of the first vendors to adopt the chip will be Compaq. An Intel spokesperson confirmed the code name of the chip. Covington, which is due in April, will be the first of the low-cost Pentium IIs promised by Intel, according to John Joseph, semiconductor analyst with Montgomery Securities. To date, the Pentium II has been found only in mid-range and high-end PCs. Compaq will release a desktop PC using a Covington chip by early summer. The computer will contain a 4GB hard drive, 32MB of memory, and cost between $700 and $800, Joseph detailed. The chip will initially run at 266 MHz and be targeted at the "retail market," said industry sources familiar with the rollout. The chip will sell for approximately $100 to $115, said Joseph, about 70 percent less than the current cost of a 266-MHz Pentium II. Most of the cost reductions will be made by removing the onboard "level-2" cache memory on the chip. Although lacking this cache memory, Covington will continue to use the "Slot 1" architecture featured on other Pentium II chips. "We used to call it Pentium II junior," he said. "They reduced the price to bring the part down into the sub-$1,000 area." Actual manufacturing costs will be around $40 dollars, he added. Other Pentium II processors to be announced at that time include 350- and 400-MHz versions of the Deschutes processors, first introduced on Monday of this week. (See related story) Joseph further added that Pentium II demand has increased due to aggressive price cuts by the company. Late last year, demand for systems using the processor were both below his own expectations and likely Intel's, Joseph said. However, recent price cuts have stimulated sales. "Demand for Pentium II is really beginning to take off now that Intel has cut the price," he said. Computer vendors have also said that demand for the processor has ramped up in the past month.