ADSL is Hot, ISDN is Not, U.S. telephone companies say.
Ray Van Eng (01/22/97)
Initially, the service will be available for telecommuters wanting to access their corporate networks at a cost of about $25 to $100 a month. Internet access charges will be extra, but Pacific Bell says that it would likely be competitive with existing Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Internet services at $50 a month. The high speed ADSL service is capable of handling incoming traffic at 1.5Mbps and outgoing traffic of 384 Kbps. Compared with a traditional T1 service (1.5 Mbps) which costs about $300 to $600 a month, ADSL is much cheaper.
At the opposite end of the country, Bell Atlantic will also have an ADSL field test within weeks and an eventual roll out in the fall in one of the areas that it serves: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston or Washington. The company declined to name the exact location. Bell Atlantic CEO Ray Smith dubbed 1997 "the Year of ADSL". He indicated that other phone companies such as Ameritech, Southwestern Bell will also have ADSL roll-outs. However, he believed that ISDN will co-exist with ADSL and be part of the high speed Internet access services. Nevertheless, he conceded that ADSL is easier to install, configure and market.
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© Copyright Ray Van Eng 1997 - 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Pacific
Bell hinted that they may one day phase out the mid-band ISDN services
(at 128 Kbps). Right now, the company is slowing the demand for ISDN services
by not promoting it, and may even consider stopping any new installation
if opposition to its plan to increase ISDN rates continues. Intel is one
of the most vocal opponents to ISDN service fee hikes. 
