Subject: ADSL

From: mkapor (Mitch Kapor)
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1991 18:33:37 -0500

[email-masked] (Harry Shapiro) writes:

 If we really want to have competition for the Cable and Telco
 companies we need a digital product that can let Telco deliver movies
 and entertainment at VCR quality and above...  It is within the
 technical ability of cable companies to offer phone service, plus
 cable and other people offering PCN.
 
 ADSL can be used to offer VCR quality video, using compression
 techniques to most homes.
 
 ADSL, is a T1 speed (1.54 mbits) connection into the home
 with a 16 kbit up to 144 kbit bi-directional (base rate isdn)
 connection.
 
 Uncompressed CD audio, compressed NTSC, computer graphics, etc.  All
 this can be offered within a T1 rate. (All most anything we (as
 consumers) want, t1 could do...  Yes some of us want 45 mbits and
 some of us what even more....
 
 ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) is still in field trials.
 It will be in trials in the 92/94 time frame...
 
 The sept. 16, 1991 -page 18- issue of computer world reports,
 
 "ADSL, developed by Bell Communications Research Inc., (Bellcore)
 delivers a bitstream of 1.5M bit/sec. to homes with two-way,
 Basic-Rate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)"

 The August 26 th 1991 issue of FIBER OPTIC NEWS on page 8, reports,
 
 "VCR quality television, voice and data can be sent simultaneously
 over a single cooper telephone line... The achievement is possible
 because of ... ADSL which uses digital signal processing techniques
 and experimental very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuitry."

 The June 10th issue of Telephony on page 27 reports,
 
 "ADSL... has a design goal of 18,000 feet on just one copper pair....
 
 The Technology
 
 The anticipated range of ADSL equipment using quadrature amplitude
 modulation (QAM) is from 0 to 18,000 feet. About 75% of residential
 telephone customers are served today on non-loaded facilities less
 than 18,000 feet from the CO."

[We agree.  ADSL sure sounds like a good thing.  We are finding out what
Bellcore and RBOC deployment plans are, if any. As previously noted, we
think video over ISDN is a valid medium.  But faster is clearly better,
especially if it still runs over copper. -MK]
 
 My point being lets not spend public money on things like ISDN,
 when something better and more useful is coming.

[We're not advocating spending large amounts of additional public money on
ISDN.  Telco plant modernization for digital switches etc. is going to
happen whether or not consumers get ubiquitous, affordable ISDN.  We're
paying for it anyway.  -MK]