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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigShoulders who wrote (18045)	3/21/1998 3:42:00 PM
From: Big Bucks	Respond to of 70976

Big, I agree with your assessment. I think we might see the telco's buying out/merging with some of the big Cable companies as the cost to "re-wire" with optical cable would be cost prohibitive. You also have to realize that once high bandwidth is readily available that folks will be using the internet for audio/visual communications which would take the telco's out of the profit loop. They won't let that happen but would be happy to offer cable/tv/internet/phone service to the masses for say $50-60 a month. The only potential snag is the FCC and potential monopoly aspects. There are quite a few sites concerning cable modem applications, I think cnet.com still has a site that reviewed cable modem technology and the major players, but I haven't visited it in quite a while. The infrastructure, as you correctly pointed out, will take time to establish. Companies like @HOME are just facitating some early market areas. The charges for some digital cable services are quite high and charge by the amount of info downloaded + monthly charges. Way to expensive for the value derived for the time saved compared to using a $20/month ISP. The market is demanding equal upload/download modem speed but not many of the cable companies have invested in the routers/switchers/modems/etc., required to enable 2 way digital communications. The initial cost is huge and the payback is slow, this combined with an unclear "standard" technology is keeping them from investing until there is a recognized "universal standard" available, IMO. There is also question if it might not be cheaper to offer wireless digital capability to provide the infrastructure, something the telco's are also looking at. I can't wait for when this technology becomes mainstream, even if I may get "mooned" for expressing my opinion on SI.<G> BB

To: BigShoulders who wrote (18045)	3/21/1998 4:50:00 PM
From: stockycd	Respond to of 70976

BigShoulders, This technology may be more "in the works" than we think. I live in a small town of ~60000. The last 5 yrs have been spent by a contract company putting fiber down all over the town. There has been no mention of fiber service but someone is betting on it. What about the satellite dish download. That has alot of limitations. Especially for people living in the cities with mounting the dish ect. I live in the country and already have a dish for my TV. My satellite service is planning to offer internet downloading in the next couple of years. CD