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Technology Stocks : MindSpring Enterprises (MSPG) Another ISP. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IFLYer who wrote (784)	1/25/1999 10:47:00 AM
From: GHowe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1434

IFLYer, Your access speeds are way off. DSLers would be quick to correct you on using ISDN speeds for DSL. HFC, which runs the cable modems of T/TCI, is a shared media. Remember the failure of the ATHM network in the Bay Area about three weeks ago? More than one engineer was teed off at ATHM for their oversubscription and lack of customer support in that three-four day debacle. That said, cable modems can range in speeds from 10 Mbps, down to the ISDN-like speeds that those poor unfortunate Bay Area types found from ATHM. Remember, it is a shared media, which means that if all of your neighbors decide to download massive video applications all at once, there is a high likelihood that the network will crash. Good luck, those of you who put their trust in Malone and the CATV execs, if you believe that they won't oversubscribe your network to the max. Digital Subscriber Lines, by contrast, are a dedicated media. Speeds range from as low as ISDN 128 Kbps up to 10 Mbps with VDSL. The ITU just standardized G.Lite ADSL at 1.5 Mbps downstream and 384 Kbps upstream, more than enough to handle the more common video applications. The real issue is provisioning from the ILECs, which is a problem. I am no fan of the ILECs, but it is a Herculean task to determine the physical infrastructure to qualify lines. And as high speed access becomes commoditized (which it will), the ILECs must get a big push from the packet CLECs (Covad, NorthPoint and Rythyms) along with those OEMs installing plug and play G.Lite modems in their boxes. It should make 1999 very interesting. My take? DSL for businesses now, cable for the home user. Over the next couple of years, DSL overtakes cable in the home as ever-sophisticated consumers become tired of waiting for their cable modems to download bandwidth-hungry applications. And Malone laughs all the way to the bank!