ARS Update: DSL News Briefs

This week's update includes news from the Consumer Electronics Show in Nevada, DSL loop extensions go long, Jato loses get-go, Covad does lines, and more.

by ARS, Inc. [January 11, 2001]

This week's update includes news from the Consumer Electronics Show in Nevada, DSL loop extensions, Jato losing it's get-go and more.

Viva Las Vegas
CopperGate Communications unveiled its newest technology, HPNV. The company states that HPNV, along with a new chipset also unveiled at the show, will make possible the delivery of up to 52 Mbps broadband access over copper phone lines in MTUs as well as small offices and homes. The company makes a point to emphasize the compatibility of their products with home phone line networking, DSL protocols and point to-point communications.

CopperGate also introduced its new "Last Yard Connection" products at CES 2001. Among the products previewed were the:

• HomeBRIDGE WAN to LAN Converters—allows high-speed Internet access to multiple PCs in the home.
• NetPLUG USB Network Modems— modems that connect with a USB cable to any supported computer. Provides networking and shared broadband access without any new wiring. USB-HPN Network Modems- allows sharing of broadband access of home phone lines. USB-HPN + Bluetooth Network Modem- provides connectivity to other Bluetooth devices.

These products will be available for demonstration beginning in the second half of the year.

America Online took advantage of the venue at CES to debut a variety of new services. Among the new additions to AOL's suite of Internet applications are "AOL Mail Alerts" and "MyAOLbyPhone". Both services are an extension of the AOL Anywhere initiative.

AOL Mail Alerts allows users to send messages to digital cell phones or to alphanumeric pagers when they receive designated messages. AOL research indicates that more and more consumers prefer to communicate with coworkers and associates through email, rather than by phone. The latest AOL initiative manifests a direct focus on that demographic. AOL Mail Alerts are available to anyone that has an AOL screen name and is customizable to whatever pager or digital phone the user chooses, provided it supports text display.

Also introduced at CES this week, was AOL's "MyAOLbyPhone," an enhancement of the existing AOLbyPhone service. The newest iteration allows users to personalize the function and more easily access AOL features. It will also allow users to access their favorite applications, like weather and sports, more quickly. According to AOL, their AOLbyPhone service has now fielded over 1 million calls, with over 200,000 subscribers.

Net to Net Technologies demonstrated interoperability of its newest products this week at the DSL Forum during CES. The company states that there are two levels on which its new products demonstrate interoperability; IPacket and AutoIP. The IPacket level of interoperability tells vendors whether or not their new modems are compatible with Net to Net's Ethernet-based ADSL solutions. The AutoIP compatibility allows configuration to be done automatically through the central office's equipment. This autoconfiguration allows service providers to reduce the time and cost of the installation process.

The new interoperability was demonstrated at the DSL Forum booth at CES Las Vegas.

Aztech Systems Limited debuted a number of new DSL products this week at CES. The company demonstrated interoperability with a number of DSLAM providers. At the DSL Forum, Aztech specifically showcased compatibility between the company's Turbo 900E router and other participants in the DSL Forum. The Turbo 900E is a controller based ADSL WAN bridged router with an Ethernet interface. The router supports full rate transmission of data at speeds up to 8M upstream and 1M downstream. Other products forthcoming include:

• SDSL Turbo Router 330E-the 330E is a 2B1Q based router, designed for use by the business service providers. It supports transmission rates of 2.3M both upstream and down. It also features IP routing, dynamic RIP1 and RIP2, allowing for maximum scalability.
• DSL Turbo Router 9100R-Controller based external ADSL WAN bridged router. The 9100 also incorporates a 4 port dual speed switch. Speeds up ranging to 8M downstream and 640k upstream are supported by this device.
• DSL Turbo 100U External ADSL Modem-full rate USB modem. This device is interoperable with all major DSLAM equipment and supports transmission speeds to 8M downstream and 1024 K upstream.
• DSL Turbo 800U External ADSL Modem-external plug and play USB modem. The device supports full rate transmissions of 1.5M downstream and 512k up. Additionally, the device is fully compliant with all of the standards and recommendations of the DSL Forum.
• DSL Turbo 300P Internal PCI ADSL Modem-plug and play PCI modem that features 8M downstream and 1M upstream. It is compliant with both G.Lite and Full Rate ADSL standards.
• DSL Turbo 700P Internal PCI ADSL Modem-controller-less PCI modem featuring the Apollo2 solution. The Turbo 700P supports full rate transmission at rates that top out at 8M downstream and 640k upstream.
• DSL Turbo 900E External ADSL Modem-full rate transmission modem that supports 8M downstream and 640k up. The 900E is designed with the telecommuter in mind, featuring an Ethernet interface.

Going long
Symmetricom confirmed this week that its field trials for the new GoLong ADSL Loop Extender essentially doubled the effective distance of ADSL service. ARS previously reported that the company would partner with Chester Telephone in South Carolina to test the GoLong Technology. The trial began December 19, 2000.

The testing was conducted by placing the GoLong loop extender midway in the 12,000-foot communications loop. The trial indicated that the GoLong technology was able to provide speeds of up to 3072kpbs downstream and 406kpbs upstream in a 24,000-foot loop. Symmetricom will continue its trials through the first quarter of 2001 and will begin shipping the GoLong loop extender the following quarter.

ARS believes that the ability to extend the effective ADSL service areas is essential to help speed DSL deployment. Companies that are able to reach the new customer base created by technology such as the GoLong loop extender will be able to take advantage of an eager but underserved customer base.

Closing doors
Jato Communications announced this week that it has ceased operations as of December 29, 2000. ARS has repeatedly commented on the ferocious nature of competition in the DSL market. This latest closing only serves to reiterate that point. The company is currently in negotiations with Lucent Technologies in regard to a jointly funded service venture. Should those talks fail, however, representatives at Jato have indicated that the company will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The majority of DSL service providers are having worrisome times, to say the least. While Covad and Rhythms were able to attract funding at the end of last year, both NorthPoint and ICG are still struggling. ICG, in fact, has already begun bankruptcy procedures.

Jato Communications announced this week that it has ceased operations as of December 29, 2000. ARS has repeatedly commented on the ferocious nature of competition in the DSL market. This latest closing only serves to reiterate that point. The company is currently in negotiations with Lucent Technologies in regard to a jointly funded service venture. Should those talks fail, however, representatives at Jato have indicated that the company will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The majority of DSL service providers are having worrisome times, to say the least. While Covad and Rhythms were able to attract funding at the end of last year, both NorthPoint and ICG are still struggling. ICG, in fact, has already begun bankruptcy procedures.

Doing lines
Covad Communications announced this week that the company has installed a total of 274,000 service lines by the end of 2000. Those lines were evenly divided between business and residential customers. The following is a breakdown of the number released by Covad:

• 97 percent were sold through Covad resellers
• 17,000 lines were installed in the fourth quarter of 2000
• Covad is not recognizing revenue from 92,000 lines
• There are 19 ISPs from which Covad is not recognizing revenue
• Four of those ISPs have filed for bankruptcy

In light of the fact that Covad has had four ISPs go under and it is not seeing revenue on almost 7 percent of the installed lines, the company will be pursuing partnerships with more ISPs throughout the year.

Covad currently offers service in 112 metropolitan service areas in the US.

— End  

Related articles:
	[Jan. 4, 2001]	ARS Update: DSL Marketing and Promotion Briefs
	[Dec. 20, 2000]	ARS Reports: DSL Analysis