DSL Prime News: The Inside Source

Thanks in part to the DSL Forum, a global DSL industry is cooperating on standards as speeds increase and innovation continues. This week, the pace is being set by South Korea—and Canada.

by Dave Burstein DSL Prime [December 29, 2003]

"Ivan Seidenberg is a world-class CEO, and I think that's why Verizon has the best prospects of any telco." —G., a first rank venture capitalist

I have enormous respect for the abilities of the giant telcos, including the 16 who carry 45 million of the world's 55 million DSL subscribers. I wanted to lead with the compliment above to Verizon's CEO, because an e-mail came "I like DSL Prime's lambasting of the LECs." It's a reporter's job to tell truth to power, but also to sing out achievements as well.

I was delighted to report BellSouth provided DSL to every CO in North Carolina in 2001. "Bravo, BT" was my headline two issues ago. I am still a little intimidated when I interview a telco veteran like Ralph Ballart. He's delivered services to millions of homes, gaining experience few can match. His comments will result in an article about powerful SBC in-house software. But when a CEO lies on a major public issue I won't mince words. I won't believe "we don't have the funds to invest" from a company that just raised dividends in the middle of a recession. I pressed a CFO on Sarbanes-Oxley when his company overstated an investment by ten times.

I'd much rather report instead, for example, that BellSouth is delivering 20 and 50 Mbps to a million homes within 500 feet of fiber. VP Bob Blau will be happy to offer fiber speeds in order to get rid of voice unbundling requirements. "If that's what the FCC asks, we'll do it. We need to eliminate unbundling, and believe we can deliver a service with DSL and fiber to the curb that's service-equivalent to FTTH." But the current BellSouth build isn't even close to fiber speeds, and will need new gear to bring that to customers. Blau is pointing the way to a sensible FCC decision, new gear with a strong requirement that the speeds and consumer pricing are the result.

I'll be in San Diego for Headliners January 21 where I see Cynthia Ringo is on the same panel. That means I have to miss the Paris TV over DSL conference, a well timed event with speakers like Stephanie Relier of the FT research team. There's a Pulver Exec Summit January 26 I'd love to attend in Sophia Antipolis—e-mail me if you're thinking of going.

Breaking news: SBC and AT&T held urgent meetings at the FCC with nine top officials. SBC is insisting AT&T pay retroactively access charges on VoIP calls, while AT&T is claiming an FCC statement that "we may find it reasonable that they pay similar access charges" suggests charges are not set and should not be retroactive. In a separate filing, the telcos suggest hundreds of millions are at stake, but it's not yet clear whether that is an amount already under dispute, or whether carriers beyond AT&T are involved. My prediction VoIP will blow up the access system is coming true faster than I expected; watch out, RLECs.

Bell Canada 3 Mbps/800 Kbps
Closer to my home in New York, Bell Canada has doubled the downstream and tripled the upstream for most customers. The price remains the same, cheaper than BellSouth's charge for half the speed.

"More than half of our customers use the Internet for instant messaging, online games, and sharing digital photos—all activities where speed in both directions matters," Charlotte Burke says in the press release.

Users want far more upstream than ADSL typically delivers. DSL Reports just did a survey, finding upstream speed a key request. CableLabs moved DOCSIS 2.0 much closer to symmetric service, because their market research and actual network studies pointed the way. Raising upstream rates costs a carrier almost nothing, because nearly all the links other than the line home are symmetric. The only reason DSL companies cap upstream is in the hope of selling higher tiers. Personally, I think crippling the basic service you sell is bad strategy in a competitive market.

Copyright 2003 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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