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To: Robert T. Miller who wrote (3100)	3/15/1999 9:15:00 AM
From: QuietWon	Respond to of 12823

ok, thx. thgt might get better speed out of DSL (if & when available) on a practical basis vs quoted basis (ie the "up to 100x faster..." stuff)

To: Robert T. Miller who wrote (3100)	3/15/1999 10:19:00 AM
From: WTC	Respond to of 12823

"DSL means shared dedicated line to shared bandwidth. Just a different choke point." Very pithy, and totally true. I will adopt that elegant explanation myself of the actual differences between cable modem and DSL contention, if I may. Mr. Miller has a few really insightful paragraphs in his reply #3096 that nicely elaborate this sound bite. The notion that actual differentiation between data service providers is really in the part of their service you can't see (capacity in their routing and their umbilicals to the internet), rather than what they install on your premises (the "640kb/s DSL"), will take some getting used to, and cause some bargain hunter remorse, I'm sure. The DLECs seem to understand they need beefy connections behind their access services, and it will be interesting to see if they maintain that robustness as they build out further and add significantly more traffic. Will they start "value engineering?" The ILECs have a reputation for good QoS, that they will surely try to maintain in their broadband access platforms. If they fail, I suspect it will be because they failed to execute, rather than a conscious decision to skimp on facilities to minimize service costs. They may even get this right -- lower than expected demand would help, of course. The cable MSOs enjoy a less sterling reputation for getting their traffic engineering right. It will be interesting to see if they try to redeem their QoS reputation with close tracking of demand and robust traffic engineering and network response, as required to deliver top-notch service. There have been a few hiccups, of course, (Freemont comes to mind), but I think it is too early yet to conclude how the cable MSOs will respond to this challenge. And they will act independently, rather than monolithically, even thought the best will no doubt be tarred with the worst. That damage to reputation will probably apply to the ILECs as well -- the analysts seem to have such difficulty sorting them out when it comes to service delivery.