bellsouth details provide they will use in august a splitter-based adsl ...
also note they are using wholesalers & expect fast adsl by '99:
BellSouth Announces ADSL Roll-Out in 30 Markets Starting in August ÿ Revised
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Copyright c 1998 TeleChoice, Inc.
May 22, 1998 -- In a nutshell, Bell South's targeted ADSL offering is a splitter-based service to be provided through wholesale Network Service Provider (NSP) channels via a select number of serving wire centers within a geographic exchange. Information regarding specific availability can be obtained on Bell South's or the NSP's website respectively.
Bell South is taking a unique approach to ADSL deployment within their region. U.S. West, Ameritech and GTE each offer packages for both consumer and commercial markets directly whereas Bell South has opted to indirectly service the consumer segment through wholesale arrangements with NSPs (ie; ISPs, CLECs, etc.).
Bell South states that one of the main reasons for focusing initial efforts on the consumer mass market is to combat the competitive presence of cable modems within their regional boundaries. Considering that a large portion of their revenues are generated from the consumer side, they are mounting an offensive to protect this portion of the business from being siphoned off by competing technologies. By establishing a wholesale channel through NSPs, Bell South could be positioning this as adherence to the '96 Telecom Act requirement to open their markets to local competition thus, granting them entrance into the long distance market. It's possible!
The reasoning behind this decision, according to them, stems from experiences obtained in the trials conducted last October in Birmingham, AL. Bell South determined that their costs were beyond acceptable consumer levels in the areas of installation, service maintenance and customer care both from initial and ongoing service standpoints. Coming to the realization that current resources to provide PC hardware installation and maintenance was insufficient (ie; Bell South was not particularly keen on developing PC service expertise "in-house") coupled with a significant labor cost structure, their goal was to find a way to minimize the "truck roll" and service expense. Thus, the decision to wholesale access through NSPs was a viewed as a cost-effective solution to this dilemma.
The $49.95 starting price point is somewhat deceiving in the fact that the POTS calling feature package must also be ordered to qualify for this lower rate. Unlimited Internet access is a plus as subscribers are spared the worry of going over a set hour limit and potentially getting nickeled and dimed to death for metered services thereafter.
The one-time installation charges seem high as, in addition to dolling out $200 for the ADSL modem, you are expected to hand over another $100 to have the splitter, wire, Ethernet card and modem installed. A higher level of pain at the beginning but, attractive overall moving forward.
The NSP relationship should prove interesting. Solidifying processes and handoffs will be critical to providing a transparent service to this higher demand/lower margin market segment.
The following are additional specifics regarding service ordering and delivery.
To order FastAccess, customers need to contact BellSouth.net (the ISP subsidiary of Bell South) or their local NSP. Network Service providers, in turn, will send electronic orders to Bell South to begin the pre-qualification process. Ultimately, the NSP will make the final determination regarding service installation and delivery.
Speaking of delivery, the interval will also be determined by the NSP depending upon their current schedule and specific demand in certain locations. Bell South, playing the role of network access provider, will have the ability to turn up services upon receipt of order and delivery date almost instantaneously.
FastAccess will require installation of the following components:
POTS splitter
Hardwire connection from the splitter to the PC
Internal Ethernet card
Modem
On-site installation by the NSP (ie; truck roll) will be mandatory to initiate service.
With regards to customers serviced by DLCs, Bell South is excluding this segment initially. However, they are currently reviewing upwards of three proposed solutions and plan to implement one of them by year-end.
Bell South is planning to offer volume and term discounts to the commercial segment but has yet to file tariffs with the FCC.
BellSouth announced that it will begin offering ADSL to the first of 30 Southeastern markets in late August. Featuring one price plan for both consumers and small businesses starting at $49.95 per month, BellSouth.net FastAccess service uses ADSL technology to deliver an "always on" Internet connection and download speeds 30 to 100 times faster than a typical dial-up connection.
Initially, BellSouth ADSL access service will be deployed in two service configurations: a mass-market consumer version and a higher-speed version.
The mass market service, targeted for consumers and small business customers, will provide a maximum speed downstream of 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps). Upstream maximum speed for the mass market service is 256 kilobits per second (Kbps).
BellSouth telephone customers can order BellSouth's mass market ADSL service from ISPs, as well as from BellSouth through its own BellSouth.net Internet access service, the company's ISP subsidiary.
Marketed as BellSouth.net Fast Access ADSL service, the BellSouth.net service will offer both ADSL service and Internet access for $59.95 monthly. BellSouth telephone customers who subscribe to the BellSouth Complete Choice Plan or, Business Choice Plan or BellSouth Entertainment Plan can order the service for $49.95 monthly. Installation will cost $99.95 and a required modem will cost $199.95. Volume pricing arrangements also will be available.
BellSouth.net pricing plans include BellSouth's charges for connection to its local Internet network and the Global Service Provider's charges for connection to the global Internet. The monthly price for BellSouth.net FastAccess includes unlimited Internet access but does not include the monthly charge for basic telephone service.
Complete Choice and Business Choice are discounted package plans including local telephone lines and a choice of optional calling services for flat monthly rates. BellSouth Entertainment is available in New Orleans and other locations where BellSouth offers video services.
BellSouth ADSL will be available to end users where existing loop facilities can support the service without conditioning. The loop must be unloaded, two-wire copper and not over 18,000 feet from the serving central office. BellSouth will work with its service provider customers to qualify end-user lines.
As an access service, BellSouth ADSL will be marketed to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Competitive Local Exchange Companies (CLECs), Interexchange carriers (IXCs), and certain other large business customers --institutions, government and corporations -- which operate their own networks, i.e. intranets or extranets.
Service provider connectivity to the BellSouth backbone transport network requires a minimum of DS1 (1.544 Mbps) ATM service provided by fast-packet switches located in the metro areas where the service is deployed.
BellSouth will provide the service in New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Raleigh, Charlotte and Ft. Lauderdale this year, making the service available to 1.7 million customers by the end of 1998. The service will first roll out in New Orleans in late August and will be offered in 23 additional markets in 1999.
The higher speed ADSL, to be launched in 1999, will be designed for large businesses and other customers with higher speed data needs and higher priority quality of service requirements. Pricing for BellSouth's higher speed ADSL access service is being finalized.
BellSouth.net FastAccess service will be fully compatible with the Universal ADSL framework being proposed by the UAWG. The group is working to develop universal technical specifications that will ensure that ADSL products and services will work together and will help provide a simple migration path from today's modems.
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Vendor Web Sites
BellSouth Corporation
c Copyright 1997 TeleChoice, Inc. All rights reserved.
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