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

To: Trey McAtee who wrote (9391)	2/17/1998 7:16:00 PM
From: Michael Perez	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21342

Some ADSL news Ameritech Prepares Data, Internet Strategies (02/17/98; 4:13 p.m. EST) By Kate Gerwig, InternetWeek Ameritech may still be building out its Internet access services in its own five-state Midwestern region, but the regional Bell company stated its international data and Internet ambitions Tuesday. Although its build-out plan was shy on specifics, clearly, data market opportunities have the Chicago-based company's attention. For the first time this year, Ameritech's data network traffic will surpass its voice traffic, according to Ameritech's executive vice president of strategy and business development, Pat Campbell. The company's data revenue grew more than 30 percent last year and is continuing to grow at that pace, he said. Ameritech offers high-speed ADSL access in one city, Ann Arbor, Mich. It offers dial-up Internet access in nine regional markets that cover 75 percent of its customers. Its ISDN channels now number 500,000, indicating growth of 71 percent in 1997. Ameritech said it also plans to expand its dedicated Internet access services, available in three cities, throughout the region in the next several months. The company also offers remote access services for businesses with employees who telecommute or travel. Ameritech has 34 points of presence in its region and will continue to build out from there. But in terms of offering its business and consumer customers extended Internet reach, the company said it plans to form partnerships with other national and international carriers to provide worldwide connectivity. Similarly, U S West announced last week it would partner with Intermedia to offer frame relay services, while Bell Atlantic is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission for permission to build its own backbone from Washington, D.C. to Boston. Ameritech has not yet announced its partnerships, but its strategy is similar to that of U S West's, Campbell said. Although it did not release the number of customers, Ameritech said its ADSL services are selling beyond its original projections in Ann Arbor, and the company will make it available in Chicago this summer. Ameritech will build out ADSL capacity over the next three years until it is available to seven out of 10 customers within its region, Campbell said. Ameritech also is working with Houston-based Compaq to develop ADSL-ready computers. When asked whether Ameritech is taking too long to build out its ADSL facilities to protect ISDN and dedicated T1 sales, Campbell said the company does not want to offer ADSL before the network is ready to handle the traffic. "We did learn some lessons with ISDN. There was a technology that perhaps we brought out earlier than we should have, and we didn't have our multifaceted ducks in a row. We are not going to introduce it faster than we should," he said. Ameritech is also studying the use of cable modems for its 53 cable franchises, Campbell said. "We have not decided at this point to offer cable modems, but we are platform-agnostic, and if they are viable, we will offer them. We are confident that by 1999, we will have a significant rollout of digital boxes."