5/13/97
Telstra Launches Internet Access in Australia
Tampa To Be Next Stop for Road Runner
Cogeco Expands Queen's University's Network to Off-Campus Students
Cable Telephony Still Alive; Casema & Rogers To Offer Services
TCI Reverses Position on Digital & Data Services - Again
Quickturn & Logic Innovations Introduce ASIC Verification Solutions
Government Subsidized Internet Access Excites Cable Operators
Telstra Launches Internet Access in Australia
Telstra, one of Australia's two mega-cable operators, has announced the
commercial launching of Internet access service in Melbourne and Sydney.
The service, known as "Big Pond Cable Internet" will be available to over a
million homes by July. Unlike most data over cable services launched,
Telstra will be charging a monthly fee of $A65 [US$51], which will include
100 MB of data transfer. Once over the limit, users will pay $A0.35
[US$0.27] per MB. In addition to service fees, Telstra is requiring that
users buy their own Ethernet card and purchase their own cable modem.
Cable modems will be available from a national electronics retailer for
$A595 [US$464].
Telstra officials are projecting that the initial adopters will bend over
and pay an average of $A90 [US$68] per month.
"Big Pond" will be offered via Hewlett Packard's Internet servers, NEC's
network design, and Motorola's CyberSURFR cable modems. Telstra will run
the service over their US$1 billion HFC network.
Telstra officials seem pleased with Motorola's technology. During a demo
for the press, they raved, while downloading a file at 3 Mbps. Officials
claimed Motorola's performance was superior to Bay Networks (formerly LANcity) system. In addition
to Bay Networks (formerly LANcity)'s equipment, Telstra has also deployed Hybrid Networks' cable
modems, using the vendor's equipment for their commercial telco return
Internet access service.
In addition to offering residential access, Telstra plans to offer access
to its infrastructure to local Internet service providers. While access
fees were not publicly announced, Telstra officials did state that the
smaller ISPs would probably not be able to afford the access.
Though Telstra is offering Internet access, the telecommunications carrier
is taking steps to forbid Internet telephony use. Since the company also
owns the narrow-band network that delivers telephone service, they are
concerned that free voice services over the Internet may effect their other
business interests. Telstra officials were less direct about the issue,
claiming that telephony would not be available because the application was
insecure and hogged bandwidth.
Telstra is taking a unique and risky approach to data over cable services.
First, they are not offering an unlimited transfer rate, which Internet
users favor. Secondly, instead of leasing cable modems, they are asking
subscribers to make a sizeable investment in proprietary technology. Last,
and most important, the cable operator is rolling out the service to a
million homes over the next two months. While they may be set for quick
returns, network problems could be disastrous, in terms of dollars and
customer confidence.
Telstra
http://www.telstra.com.au
Motorola
http://www.mot.com/multimedia/
Tampa To Be Next Stop for Road Runner
Time Warner has announced that they will launch Road Runner service this
summer in Tampa, Florida. The system, which passes 1.2 million homes and
includes seven counties, will be the largest market that Time Warner has
targeted for data services. The service will feature Motorola CyberSURFR
cable modems, Toshiba's system management and, network connectivity via MCI.
The Internet access service will directly compete with data over cable
services offered by
GTE in Clearwater, Florida. The GTE service uses Zenith cable modems.
Currently, Road Runner is being offered in four markets including
Akron/Canton, Ohio; San Diego, California; Binghamton, New York; and
Portland, Maine. Road Runner claims 7,000 subscribers.
In addition to Tampa, Road Runner is scheduled to launch in Albany, New
York and Columbus, Ohio. Time Warner is expecting that by the end of the
year, the service will pass more than 3 million homes.
Time Warner
http://www.timewarnercable.com
Road Runner
http://www.rdrun.com
Cogeco Expands Queen's University's Network to Off-Campus Students
Cogeco Cable has announced that the data over cable network services being
offered to Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada will be
accessible to off-campus students and faculty members. The expansion
expands confusion as the "Queen's @Home" service clashes with Cogeco's Wave
service. While students and faculty will be able to access the
university's network that includes cable modems in 3,100 dorm rooms,
off-campus users will have to downgrade from using Bay Networks (formerly LANcity)'s 10 Mbps
modems, and adopt Zenith's 500 Kbps modems. However, Cogeco's President,
Louis Audet stated that the cable system would eventually replace the
Zenith equipment.
Cogeco Cable
http://www.cogeco.ca
Bay Networks (formerly LANcity)
http://www.baynetworks.com
Cable Telephony Still Alive; Casema & Rogers To Offer Services
Despite unsuccessful, and poorly executed tactics by Time Warner to offer
residential cable telephony services in the US, voice over cable services
are still a hot topic abroad. In the Netherlands, Casema is planning a
major trial in Leidschendam in July. The trial, which uses network
equipment provided by Ericsson is scheduled to launch commercially in 1998.
In Canada, Rogers Cablesystems has announced plans to offer cable
telephony services in Ontario and British Columbia, following a recent
decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
that will allow cable operators to compete in local telephone markets.
Casema officials stated that the cable telephony trial would begin with 50
homes and expand to serve over 1,000 homes by the end of the summer.
Casema will be using switching technology provided by Nortel. Nortel will
supply 6 DMS public switches [supporting 300,000 lines] over the next five
years. Jones Cyber Solutions and Kenan Systems will provide subscriber
management systems, including their Intelligent Customer Support System.
Casema is also testing data services. They currently have trials utilizing
Zenith cable modems in Veenendaal [30 homes] and Wageningen.
Casema
http://www.casema.nl
TCI Reverses Position on Digital & Data Services - Again
It may have been the appointment to the @Home Board or just the flip of a
coin, but Dr. John Malone, Chairman of TCI, has announced that the MSO will
once again pursue system upgrades, and data and digital services. Malone
reportedly stated that all of TCI's systems would be HFC and "@Home"
compatible by the year 2000.
TCI
http://www.tci.com
Quickturn & Logic Innovations Introduce ASIC Verification Solutions
Quickturn Design Systems and Logic Innovations have teamed up to provide
ASIC designers with a verification solution. The solution, which combines
Quickturn's Realizer and CoBALT technology with Logic's Data Stream
Transport System, supports input of MPEG-2 transport and recording of data
from the emulated design.
Logic's Data Stream Transport System utilizes a disk interface and 8.2 GB
of local disk space to capture, store and output high speed data streams,
allowing variable input and output rates, filtering of input data and
control of packet sizing on output. Combined with Quickturn's emulation
technology, the Data Stream Transport System is used as a variable
data-rate adjuster.
Logic Innovations
http://www.logici.com
QuickTurn Design Systems
http://www.quickturn.com
Government Subsidized Internet Access Excites Cable Operators
Putting things like world hunger and homelessness aside, the US government
is in the process of finalizing the details of the "Universal" service,
which is a program that will provide subsidies to public schools and
libraries for high speed connectivity to the Internet. The program, which
will be in place by January 1, 1998, will provide schools and libraries
with over $2.25 billion. Depending on the financial status of the
institution, the government will subsidize between 20 - 90% of Internet
access and telephony costs including fees for routers, hubs, file servers,
LANs and access.
The FCC recently decided that telco and cable providers would bid for the
business, and that institutions could choose a provider based on "best
value" and not be bound by the lowest bid. Many schools and libraries are
expected to begin the RFP process as early as next month.
The Universal service, and recent decisions by the FCC are favorable for
cable operators offering data services. With taxpayers taking care of the
bill, operators will have greater opportunities to connect public
institutions. Representatives from both Comcast and Cox have praised the
program and have stated that their companies will submit bids.
FCC's Universal Services Home Page
http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/welcome.html
© Copyright 2000 Gecko Research & Publishing
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