Sender: •••@••.••• (Marty Tennant) IMO, the posting of Brock Meeks regarding the intent of the FCC to "do something" about ISP's using local switching capabilities, without paying for it like long distance carriers on a per minute basis, will fuel the evolution of emerging alternative transmission technologies. I predict it will be good for cable tv modem access to the Internet and for ADSL technologies. ADSL allows for simultaneous voice and data over the same two wire loop. Voice still connects to the central office, but digital information rides above it, at a minimum of 1.544Mbps. It can go much higher, depending on the distance to the Central Office. At the CO, the digital data gets stripped off the loop and concentrated, switched or routed elsewhere. US West, GTE and Bell Atlantic have all announced plans for ADSL technology introduction in conjuction with Internet access plans. If an ISP were also a reseller of telephone company dial tone services, and therefore had access to the local loop like all other carriers, as defined under the new law, this technology would also be available for them to implement. This requires physical or virtual colocation of equipment in the CO, as required by law. This colocation requirement will be sticky wicket. Once you've got your high speed digital link over the existing copper loop, bypassing the CO, who is going to know if you are transmitting voice, text or video? I wonder how the FCC thinks they are going to figure that out and regulate it? As far as making the manufacture of software like IPHONE illegal or restricted, forget it. That cat is already out of the bag. I see this as a digital equivalent of plugging a hole in an old pipe, just to have a new leak spring up somewhere else. The old pipe is the current, regulated networks, and will be very difficult to fix with current thinking. The FCC has their work cut out for them with this issue. IMO, they would be best to lay back and let the newly unregulated market forces take over. ISP's would do well to start investigating these new strategies. Marty Tennant President - Low Tech Designs, Inc. Bringing Technology Down To Earth(sm) ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Andrew Oram - •••@••.••• - Moderator: CYBER-RIGHTS (CPSR) Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/ ftp://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/Library/ CyberJournal: (WWW or FTP) --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore Materials may be reposted in their _entirety_ for non-commercial use. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
