High speed access

Thu Jul 5 22:32:07 UTC 2001

If you'd get off the broadband schtick and onto the high-speed schtick
(which is what you're really asking about) then we might get somewhere.

At one time, PacBell almost had 10Mbps to the home (HFC). Yes, it was
asymetric. ATT/TCI brings such speed. 802.11b carriers (Sprint, et al) are
trying to bring in symetric 11 Mbps. The we have the local telcos where
affordability seems to top out at T1 speeds (1.54Mbps). SDSL seems to top
out there as well.

Yes, I am not interested in asymetric services. Every study I have done
indicates that most users would do more symetric usage if they can. Email is
only an asymetric service if you allow spam. Otherwise, it is almost 1:1.
Mailing lists are different, but an amazing number of people are not on any
mailing list whatsoever. There are a finite number of programs that one can
download. Most folks don't download and install software everyday. Also, now
that the "new" is wearing off the web, you don't see as much random surf
traffic there either. Instant messaging is usually person:person and IRC is
falling out due to cracker problems. VOIP is also very symetric, even for
teleconfrences. 

Usage is getting more purposful. Those who do not do "computing" for a
living are limiting their Internet time in order to get real work done. As
that occurs, usage should get more symetric. This becomes moreso if the user
is running personal web pages (which most asymetric service providers do not
allow) for a small business or cottage industry site. Another factor is that
the rise in home LANs should actually reduce the need for high-speed access
(the local server then plays "store and forward").

Personally, I'd like to see switched FDX 10baseT to the home. That's why I
went to work for PacBell/ACN, in 1995. There was a chance of actually making
that happen. Unfortunately, that window was closed by SBC in 1997 (We had
10K users online and 3 million homes passed).

--
From: Larry Diffey [mailto:ldiffey at technologyforward.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 2:35 PM

The question then remains: What (in your opinion) constitutes broadband
according to the services that have been promised to consumers but not yet
delivered?

Yes, I understand that it's not just speed, but take everything else into
account when  you consider the minimum speed.