IP: more on How America is Falling Behind in Race for Fast Access

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

A bit of background. Joe worked with me at Bell Labs in the 60s . 
Real smart person. I have had equivalent discussions with very senior 
people in the RBOCs.

If peopl,e disagree and I suspect many will, please send me a cogent 
argument  not a "religious" one.

dave

> From: "Joseph H. Weber" <jweber () spri com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: Re: How America is Falling Behind in Race for Fast Access
> Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 21:47:03 -0400
>
>
> Although the US may (or may not) be falling behind in deployment of high
> speed access, I'm not much impressed by the evidence presented in your note.
> Announcements are cheap - there have been many announcements of plans for
> high speed access made by AT&T and several Bell companies.
>
> If there is a governmental failure here, it may have more to do with the
> reguolatory constraints placed on the industrey than the lack of
> governmental initiatives. The Bells don't have much incentive to open their
> networks, or to provide high speed access, if they are forced to make their
> facil.lities available to competitors at prices they judge to be below cost.
> Similarly, AT&T is being hassled by its competitors to let them benefit
> equally from any investment it makes in cable technology. There may be some
> merit in some of these positions, but rapid deployment of high spoeed access
> is not one of the outcomes.
>
> By the way, it's perfectly possible for a line to be unusable for ADSL, but
> perfectly OK for basic rate ISDN .  T1.ordinarily involves some
> conditioning, which the companies are perfectly willing to make, since the
> price will justify the cost.
>
> Joe Weber
> Strategic Policy Research
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> To: ip-sub-1 () admin listbox com <ip-sub-1 () admin listbox com>
> Date: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 8:05 PM
> Subject: IP: How America is Falling Behind in Race for Fast Access
>
>
> > > Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 11:44:15 -0400
> > > To: OpenDTV Mail List <OpenDTV () pcube com>
> > > From: Craig Birkmaier <craig () pcube com>
> > >
> > > An interesting commentary from jesse Berst at ZDNet...
> > >
> > >
> > > How America is Falling Behind in Race for Fast Access
> > >
> > > Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
> > > ZDNet AnchorDesk
> > >
> > > Producers of "The Blair Witch Project" caught Hollywood moguls
> > > off-guard. Promoting the low-budget film online proved to be a smart
> > > move.
> > >
> > > Another project: Global Fast Access is playing on other continents.
> > > And is catching America off-guard. Americans love to gloat over the
> > > strength of the free-market system. The best products at the best
> > > prices. The highest standard of living. The envy of the world.
> > >
> > > But the system has failed when it comes to fast Internet access. Just
> > > as "Blair Witch" leapfrogged the traditional Hollywood system, so too
> > > several other countries are leapfrogging the U.S. in the race to wire
> > > the planet with fast connections.
> > >
> > > The stakes are high. The winners will dominate in the first half of
> > > the next century.
> > >
> > > WHO IS GETTING AHEAD
> > > The fast-access leaders include:
> > >
> > > Singapore: The government's number one project is to connect phone
> > > lines with the cable TV network through high-frequency optical cable
> > > lines.
> > > <http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial/archives/issue1no
> > > 85.html>Click for more.
> > > Malaysia: They're building an ambitious high-tech zone called the
> > > Multimedia Super Corridor, which is to become a testing ground for
> > > new information technology and multimedia systems.
> > > <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2289969,00.html>Click
> > > for more.
> > > Great Britain: Phone giant British Telecom announced a recent big
> > > investment in
> > > <http://www.anchordesk.com/glossary/glossary_24.html>DSL with the
> > > goal of making Britain a world leader in the information revolution.
> > >
> > > WHAT WENT WRONG IN THE U.S.?
> > > Blame for slow rollout in the U.S. is shared by many:
> > >
> > > Baby Bells have refused to implement the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
> > > That's slowed competition, hampering independent companies in their
> > > efforts to offer fast access.
> > > <http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_2799.html>Click for
> > > more. I experienced it first-hand when I tried to get DSL service
> > > from an independent provider. But the phone company said it couldn't
> > > provide the service because of "problems" with the line. However the
> > > line was good enough for them to offer me expensive
> > > <http://www.anchordesk.com/glossary/glossary_44.html>ISDN or
> > > <http://www.anchordesk.com/glossary/glossary_176.html>T1 service. No
> > > thanks.
> > >
> > > Low-budget cable companies have let their systems languish. Many are
> > > way out of date and not capable of offering fast access. Yesterday's
> > > announced Viacom-CBS deal should bring faster cable upgrades, but
> > > it's still taking way too long.
> > >
> > > Inability to agree on technical standards has also hurt the push for
> > > fast access. Lucent's announcement yesterday of its Stinger
> > > technology is exactly the technical advance we couldn't get before.
> > > <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2329469,00.html>Click
> > > for more
> > >
> > > A government that just doesn't get it. The Clinton Administration
> > > worries about security issues and encryption. And it should. But it
> > > has failed to coordinate or promote a plan for wide use of fast
> > > access. Similarly, presidential candidate Al Gore (the man who "took
> > > the initiative in creating the Internet," remember
> > > <http://cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcri
> > > pt.gore/>click for more) has yet to push for creating the
> > > infrastructure for a "digital nation."
> > >
> > > It's simple really: First build the highways for high-speed data,
> > > sound and video. But so far, the U.S. government has done little to
> > > prime the pump or offer the private sector incentives to take the
> > > financial risks involved in fast access.
> > >
> > > You thought "Blair Witch" was frightening. What's really scary is
> > > watching a tech powerhouse like the U.S. lose the fast-access race
> > > because it didn't bother to build the proper foundations.