DSL

Speed Has Its Price

For many ISPs, the accelerated deployment of DSL has meant increased revenue and explosive growth, but it's also exposed weakness in the basic infrastructure of the Internet.

by Jim Thompson

Shakespeare warns of the man who is "hoist on his own petard." A petard was an early explosive device, designed to be set against gates or other barricades for the purpose of blowing them to bits.

As often happens in the early history of a technology, there were glitches. Unlike today, when the worst thing that can happen is the CEO of a new company gets stuck with a lot of worthless stock after a wild IPO, the petard carried a far more lethal fate. In this case, the poor sap delivering the explosives was himself often blown up. There's a certain irony, no doubt lost on the victim, in being blown up by ones own weapon; hence the phrase.

Don't blame the user
For years the 'swimming-in-molasses' sensation that was a part of most people's Internet experience has been blamed on end-users. Their 'old computer and dial-up connection slowed everything down' was the popular notion.

But with the current marketing explosion of high-speed access brought on largely by the proliferation of DSL, ISPs are suddenly finding that they can no longer blame the end-user for the slowness of the Net. The tables have turned and now, the end-user is blaming the ISP. 'I have a high-speed connection, so why aren't things faster?' is the question.

The irony here is that it's been the ISPs who brought about the revolution in high-speed access by marketing DSL. I haven't seen many petards around, but, in the distance, one can hear a distinct 'Ka-boom!'

This slowdown of the Internet is highlighted in a recent report by the investment banking firm of Bear, Stearns & Co. Entitled "Internet Infrastructure & Services," the report highlights several places on the Internet where information flow is slowing to a snail's pace. It asserts that the growth in end-user, high-speed access is only accentuating the inherent slowness of the Net. Of the forces bringing this weakness to light, probably the most powerful is the expansion of DSL deployment.

Explosive DSL growth
DSL lines in service in North America passed the 880,000 mark at the end of the first quarter 2000, according to statistics released by TeleChoice, Inc. The number represents an impressive 50 percent overall increase in U.S. deployed lines over the end of 1999.

The continued deployment of DSL is an important factor in the growth of the Internet. It's also a significant part of the revenue stream for ISPs and CLECs. Even ILECs are starting to get into the game. (ILECs currently lag well behind the CLECs in high-speed DSL deployment, but they're rapidly making up for lost time. First quarter 2000 results show them aggressively addressing this issue.)

"It was the challengers like Covad, Northpoint, and Rhythms that were exceeding expectations, while the ILECs were coming in at, or below, expectations. But the ILECs are now beginning to change that," said Bear, Stearns Internet infrastructure analyst, and the author of the study, Robert Fagin.

Easier DSL deployment
A major push is underway to take the difficulty and the cost out of deploying DSL lines, which is also adding to the growth of the technology. In early July, SBC Corp. announced a do-it-yourself DSL modem package that they claim the customer can hook-up and put on-line themselves in about an hour.

With a downstream speed of 1.5-Mbps, it sounds a lot like G.lite. However, to date, SBC hasn't made any announcements about the type of equipment they will use for what they call 'Basic Internet Service.' Northpoint Communications is hoping to meet the challenge with its rollout of G.lite. Northpoint began testing a G.lite modem last year and has been test-marketing G.lite modems through Radio Shack stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth and San Francisco Bay areas.

Despite this proliferation of theoretically high-speed access, however, things are getting slower, not faster, for the average user. So, what's making it so slow?

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