Betting on WAN Access Technology
In fact, the pressures are so great that some cable providers have backed away from providing data service directly. Instead, they are hedging their bets by funding--and providing infrastructure for--start-up companies willing to take the risk. On the national level, service providers such as @Home Networks are partnering with local cable providers like TCI, Cox Communications and Comcast to help cable companies deliver a high-speed WAN infrastructure based on a dedicated backbone network. @Home Networks' corporate-level service, @Work, handles customers with higher demand for reliability and
management. Other cable vendors are investing in this service or are starting similar services. Among the group are Time-Warner Cable, with its RoadRunner network, and Continental Cablevision, with Highway 1.
Place Your Bets
The hype is that ADSL and cable technologies will answer all c
hallenges and replace traditional lines for local-loop connectivity. Both are designed to take advantage of existing telephone and cable network wiring to offer bandwidth on the order of 10 Mbps through dedicated pipes to the Internet and corporate data centers. They will boost productivity, pave the way for unlimited multimedia applications and Internet telephony/fax services, and save us tons of money.
The smart technology gambler will look beyond the marketing allure of a big, instant payoff and instead try to determine which technologies will truly meet tomorrow's demands, how each new technology is laid out, who the players are, what each new technology promises and what
it can't guarantee.
Jeff Newman can be reached at jnewman@nwc.com.
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UPPING THE ANTE
The next step for exchange carriers will be testing and implementing Single Line Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) and Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) technologies. With SDSL, a single copper wire will be able to carry 2.048 Mbps to customer premises equipment over distances of up to 10,000 feet symmetrically. Priced right, it will be an attractive medium for high-bandwidth small-office/home-office (SOHO) connectivity. Still further out in terms of use, VDSL will behave much like Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), but will offer higher speeds at shorter distances. Although there are no confirmed standards yet for VDSL, the ADSL Forum reports that it expects to offer downstream speeds of up to 51.96 Mbps (at 1,000 feet) to 12.96 Mbps (at 4,500 fe
et). Note that these are short local loops and apply only to closely connected sites with existing copper links, or sites located within the appropriate range from their local central office.
Other technologies are emerging to compete with the cable companies and exchange carriers for data connectivity. Satellite vendors are battling cable companies f
or the TV broadcast business, and with the introduction of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, many of the latency problems for data access will be eliminated, letting satellite vendors offer data access at cable-like speeds.
Like the cable and telephone industries, power utilities have the wiring in place that lets them bid in the data access market. Although they have not announced plans for competition, don't rule out the utilities yet. Virtually every home and office has power, which means they have the wiring infrastructure necessary to access wide-area service--and with a much heavier gauge wiring, it would be interesting to see what kind of speeds a
nd distances they might achieve.
GAMBLING ON IDSL
Some vendors are working in conjunction with carriers to offer a combination of old and new cable technologies. For example, Ascend Communications is cooperating with UUNET/MFS Worldcom to bring ISDN over Digital Subscriber Line (IDSL) technology--which they call Preferred Access 128--to the table. The idea behind IDSL is that subscribers can purchase ISDN equipment cheaply by a subscriber and simply plug it into an existing plain old telephone system (POTS) wiring jack, without purchasing ISDN service or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber LIne (ADSL) service from a local carrier.
UUNET/MFS would then lease the local copper wiring loops from the telephone companies to provide ADSL service to customers that want reliable, high-bandwidth access without having to purchase expensive leased T1 lines.
Although ADSL hosts the line, special equipment from Ascend lets the back-end network speak ISDN to the cus
tomer premises equipment (CPE). The result is that the user can buy less-expensive equipment based on proven technology, and avoid potentially expensive ADSL services from local carriers.
The idea is a clever one but it won't be useful unless it actually saves the user money in the long run. UUNET must tariff the service to be cheaper than ISDN service provided
by local carriers: The cost will be the only benefit the user receives. Although ADSL is the true medium, the ISDN equipment will be restricted to 128 Kbps.
UUNET/MFS Worldcom has priced their ISP services at $750 per month with a one-year term commitment. The service includes Internet access with e-mail and news services targeted at small office/home office (SOHO) sites. Depending on the location of the customer sites, access charges will range from $150 to $225 per month.
Although UUNET compares the savings to leased T1 and fractional T1 services, Preferred Access 128 is still a 128-Kbps service. In most areas, carefully planned ISDN, o
ffered through local exchange carriers to a competitive Internet service providers (ISP), is much cheaper and provides the same bandwidth.
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