>Now how is DSL going to affect "us modem guys"? Soutwestern Bell is
>AGRESSIVELY pushing DSL. It seems that if I wanna offer DSL, all I need is
>an ATM switch connected to their cloud.
In greater Phoenix and greater Seattle, USWest's experience is that fewer
than 50% of the lines in the target areas are actually DSL qualified. And
then you have the people who are simply too far from the switch. It will
be a while (but not forever). DSL hasn't found its way over here yet.
>How long do you guys think modems will be around?
How many of your customers are still running Win 3.1, or Mac System 7.1, or
Win95 first version without service packs?
We have a persistent core group of 14.4 modem users [including one of our
staff] (it's not large...our 18 14.4 modems usually have at least 5 open).
I have one user who calls quite often about how to get faster
connections...the basic answer is "move" (which doesn't work for him: he
lives at his business, which isn't "portable"). He is (a) in Sprint/United
territory, and when that was United Telephone it was badly starved...Sprint
has spent a bundle and made *some* progress...there are now fewer instances
of "fixing" one subscriber by swapping line cards with another (whose
service is thus broken), (b) a LONG way from the CO, (c) seemingly on the
wrong side of an SLC. ISDN won't help him; DSL won't help him. His
reported ending TX speeds range from 26,400 down to 4,800. (He doesn't
seem to have tried calling our analog modem bank as I suggested last
month.) Last time I called, I referred him to a satellite dealer...today I
have to call him about DSL. (We don't have any experience with frame relay
across the Sprint/United--USWest boundary, so I don't know whether that's
an option, and in any case it's expensive.)
--John
-- John Baxter jwblist@olympus.net Port Ludlow, WA, USA - To unsubscribe, email 'majordomo@livingston.com' with 'unsubscribe portmaster-modems' in the body of the message.