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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Drake who wrote (56459)	10/24/1998 12:25:00 PM
From: Don Dodge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

My cable modem was installed last week. It is a Motorola CyberSufer. I get service through TCI/@Home and it has worked flawlessly for the past week. I also have an ISDN line that I have been using for more than a year, and of course a 56K modem that came with my computer. Cable is faster on graphic intensive sites and when you want to download files. With things like E-mail and browsing text based web sites there isn't a huge difference. My cable modem is bi-directional; it does NOT use a phone line for the return link. The service is $39 per month and a one time install fee of $100. Included in the install price was a 3Com NIC, a Motorola CyberSurfer cable modem, installing a new cable jack in my den / office, and setting up the software on my PC. An excellent deal! ISDN service is very expensive for me because there is a monthly charge, and usage is charged at $.06 per minute, actually $.12/min when I am using both channels. I dial into servers that are long distance calls, not local calls, so that adds a LOT of cost. I believe ADSL is even more expensive. At this point I would rate cable modem service better, faster, and cheaper than ISDN and ADSL. My theory is that the cable guys will win the home market, and the telco guys will win the corporate market. Cable is fast and relatively cheap, though it may in some cases be less dependable, things that home consumers can live with. Cable does not currently service businesses and would need to lay cable and wire the insides of buildings to provide service. The telcos already have the infrastructure to service the corporate market, and they have a long history of delivering excellent quality of service. The telcos can also use their other services as bargaining chips in price negotiations. The cable guys don't have any other services to discount. I see the telcos winning the corporate market hands down. AT&T joining with TCI puts a different wrinkle in this picture. AT&T wants to get into the local access market and may use TCI to go around the RBOCS and CLECS to do it. There are significant technology and business practice hurdles to doing this, but the stakes are very high for AT&T. This should be very interesting to watch. Don