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To: Scrapps who wrote (5924)	4/9/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9236

(de todo <g>) This cuts into AWRE's G.Lite bread and butter: <A> "Install your own DSL" from redherring.com By Georgie Raik-Allen Red Herring Online April 8, 1999 A Silicon Valley startup has developed a way to install DSL (digital subscriber line) into the home that doesn't involve waiting for trucks, watching telephone guys climb poles, or making complicated customer service inquiries. Telocity has built an appliance that combines a DSL and analog modem. A user can plug it into a computer and install an always-on DSL service automatically via a download from the company's back office. The startup has just raised a $14.5 million second round of funding led by Mohr, Davidow Ventures and RRE Investors, and including former investors August Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Comdisco, and Stanford University. The round brings total financing to more than $20 million. MARKET PAIN Peter Meade, who has been covering DSL for the past three years as senior analyst at Cahners In-stat, says widespread roll-out of the service has not been as rapid as some expected because "for the most part, (installing it) can be a real pain in the butt." Problems include the need for multiple truck visits to the home, not having the correct modem, being too far away from the central office, and the need to test the line or "qualify the copper." "Telocity is taking the AOL approach," Mr. Meade says, "making it easy enough so that any dummy can do it." The startup partners with local exchange carriers (LECs) wanting to offer DSL services to consumers and small businesses. It charges the LECs a per-user monthly fee that Telocity CEO Michael Solomon says is cheaper than the current cost of setting up the service. "The cost of sending someone to the home for three hours and dealing with customer service inquiries is very expensive. We can save them hundreds of dollars per customer," he says. The technology includes software for Virtual Private Networks (VPN), video conferencing and other services that customers can download from Telocity's back office when they require it, without the need to send out trucks for installation. OLD-SCHOOL BELL Trials have begun in 50 California households, and an official roll-out will begin in a few months. Mr. Solomon expects the service to be national sometime next year. Telocity was founded by Mr. Solomon and Peter Olson. Mr. Olson was also cofounder of Octel Communications, a voice mail and messaging company acquired by Lucent Technologies (LU) for $1.8 billion in 1997. The conservative attitude of the baby Bells helped to create the need for the startup's technology. Ironically, Mr. Meade says Telocity's biggest challenge will be overcoming that attitude. "When I heard about this technology I wondered why the Bell companies hadn't taken this approach," says Mr. Meade, "but they seem to be still operating from an old-school mentality." "Telocity's challenge will be to overcome the perception of an upstart telling the big boys what to do," he says. "The mouse can teach the elephant new tricks."