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To: Geof Hollingsworth who wrote (8901)	1/7/1999 9:37:00 PM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18016

Geof -- Good to see you here. I'm not familiar with the AT&T/@Home deal, but as I understand IP over fiber using DWDM, in order to have any kind of quality of service you have to use some aspects of SONET. This was explained in detail at the NGN conference in Wn., D.C., but I could be wrong in this particular case. With Cisco, your explanation makes sense and I'm wondering if today's LATimes slanted the story more than was warranted. I'll go ahead and post the story since it won't be available tomorrow unless you're a subscriber: <<< Thursday, January 7, 1999 Cisco to Enter Home Market Telecom: It will start with a TV cable modem that provides simultaneous phone and Net connections. By LESLIE HELM, Times Staff Writer Cisco Systems, the leading provider of equipment used by businesses to build Internet-based networks, will announce today a major new push into the home. Debuting the first in its new line of home products, Cisco will unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a device that, when connected to a regular television cable, provides two phone connections and four high-speed Internet connections simultaneously. In a related matter, San Jose-based Cisco also will announce today a preliminary agreement with AT&T Corp. on a nearly $100-million contract to help AT&T build an infrastructure capable of delivering voice, video and telephone services over cable TV lines. AT&T is close to acquiring an extensive cable network through a merger with cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. "Today, you get cable TV, long-distance phone service, local phone service and Internet access from four different providers," said Robba Benjamin, general manager of Cisco's newly created Consumer Line of Business. "This [technology] will enable AT&T to offer all four on one bill." Cisco's new device, the cable modem, will be the first to offer regular voice connections. It will sell for about $1,000 and is aimed at home offices. But Cisco is also licensing its technology to consumer electronics companies such as Sony, Hitachi and Samsung, which plan to offer similar products for the consumer market later this year. Cisco believes that over time, Internet service, cable TV providers and others will offer telephone services to their customers as a free add-on to their basic services. As part of its consumer strategy, Cisco plans to work with a broad range of partners to create a new "personalized network" that will make it easy to connect personal computers, televisions, phones and other appliances to one another and to the Internet. "This is Cisco landing on the beach," said Gary Arlen, president of Bethesda, Md.-based Arlen Communications, a research firm. "Home automation has been around for 15 years, but it hasn't gone anywhere. Cisco makes the whole thing credible." Cisco said it is pulling together a team of partners to make the technology happen. One set of Cisco partners, for example, will provide the technology to connect various Internet devices in the home using wireless, electric or phone lines. Others will produce Internet-capable phones and other Internet appliances. Each device will include Cisco software and carry a "Cisco NetWorks" logo similar to Intel's famous "Intel Inside" logo. "Cisco is really moving into the consumer market," said Mark Stubbe, a vice president at Samsung Telecommunications America, a South Korea-based firm that plans to market a variety of Internet appliances that carry the Cisco brand. "By working with them, we can get to market a lot faster than if we worked separately," Stubbe says. Analysts say Cisco may have a tough time building a consumer market for cable modems and other high-speed Internet access devices because the technology is still new and all the kinks have not been worked out. >>>> I'm sure we'll understand their strategy eventually. And, yes, I'm thrilled that our favorite ATM company is finally getting some attention. Hope you had a great holiday. So good to see you posting. Pat