ISPs losing pace with high-speed world
Rogers adopts GSM
Telus plans DSL rollout
FCC may revamp phone and ISP subsidies
Military puts squeeze on wireless industry
AT&T signs deal for landmark China venture
Internet 2 crops up on college campuses 
Brooktrout teams with NMS to develop corporate voice portal solutions
Plastic microchips move forward
Microsoft wades in
Home wireless war rages over standards
Intel and Analog Devices ring in new DSP
Dell introduces 32-way system
Ericsson and Intel make Bluetooth pact
GoLong to test doubling of DSL loop

ISPs losing pace with high-speed world
Source: Newsbytes

With competitive pressures intensifying, many of the nation's estimated 7,900-plus Internet service providers, or ISPs, won't make it, analysts predict. Many of these middlemen who make the dial-up connection between your phone and the Internet are losing money. Hundreds are already for sale. Some will vaporize in a wave of coming consolidation or die.  As their customers change hands, there could be confusion, lost e-mail and service disruptions. ''As more and more of them go out of business, the more difficult it will become,'' Harris says.

In the past six months, hundreds of ISPs have put themselves on the auction block for pennies on the dollar, merged or shut down, says Jack Ferguson of Rampart Associates, a financial services firm for the Internet industry.  Earlier this year, EarthLink and MindSpring, realizing they needed each other to survive, combined to create the nation's No. 2 ISP in a $4 billion merger. More consolidation is expected.

But, about 56 million households subscribe to dial-up ISPs, according to The Yankee Group. Demand for ISPs is growing so fast that even while some fail, the overall number of ISPs is up. According to ISPworld, an online publication, the number of North American ISPs jumped from 1,447 in 1996 to more than 7,900 today.  The vast majority of Web surfers still use slower dial-up connections that are limited by the narrow pipes of ordinary phone lines.  More and more customers want faster speeds through digital subscriber lines (DSL) or cable and wireless connections. They will pay two to four times the cost of monthly dial-up service to drive in the fast lane.

Rogers adopts GSM
Source: Angustel

Following the lead of AT&T, Rogers Wireless is transferring its allegiance from TDMA technology (which AT&T originally developed) to the international GSM standard. Rogers will continue to support TDMA phones, but will begin offering GSM phones and GSM wireless packet data across Canada in the second half of 2001.

Telus plans DSL rollout
Source: Angustel

Telus says it will spend $200 Million next year, and another $300 Million by 2005, to make DSL-based high-speed Internet service available to 70% of the population in BC and Alberta. The service will be available to "virtually every home and workplace" in 38 communities.

FCC may revamp phone and ISP subsidies
Source: Cnet

Verizon Communications, SBC Communications and other large phone companies likely will get a boost this month as U.S. regulators begin phasing out a subsidy system that cost the companies billions annually.

The FCC has said it plans to revamp, by the end of this year, payments local companies make to each other for costs associated with processing calls. The plan being considered at the agency, to phase out fees, would eliminate about $1.4 billion in 2001 revenue from Teligent, Winstar and other local phone rivals, Legg Mason analyst Daniel Ernst said in a note to clients last week.

The large regional companies complain that some smaller companies take advantage of the system, catering to Internet service providers so they never have to compensate the big carriers. Many rivals fear that any changes in the system could hurt competition, putting some small players out of business.

Military puts squeeze on wireless industry
Source: Cnet

Clinton has ordered government agencies to cooperate with the wireless industry to find solutions to the spectrum drought, including the possible sharing or relocation of incumbents. But at a meeting of government and industry representatives, the Department of Defense reiterated its inflexibility and emphasized its need for large swaths of air space over major markets such as New York, Houston and San Francisco, including all of Silicon Valley.

Sharing spectrum with commercial operators "would be awfully challenging," said Mike Williams, a senior engineer with the Defense Department's Joint Spectrum Center and the chair of the military's engineering task force on accommodating 3G wireless. Williams addressed dozens of wireless industry representatives Friday in a cramped Commerce Department room.

He said segmenting the spectrum band in question, 1,755 MHz to 1,850 MHz, into separate pieces was "more promising." However, he added that any dislocation of military operations would mean the Defense Department would need "access to some spectrum somewhere else," and that the military wouldn't hesitate to dislodge some other spectrum users.  Perhaps the biggest obstacle to achieving nationwide 3G services are the protected geographic areas the military has designated across the United States, which coincide with key military installations.

To permit clear air space for communication with aircraft and for satellite control, some of the largest metropolitan areas are all but completely blocked out by the military in the spectrum band in question. These include New York, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Denver, Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Albuquerque, N.M., and the entire San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and Silicon Valley.

Clinton in his executive order said that the FCC should issue new rules for 3G services by July 2001 so that auctions for the airwaves can be held by Sept. 30, 2002.

AT&T signs deal for landmark China venture
Source: Digitalmass

AT&T Corp has signed a deal to launch the first foreign telecommunications joint venture in China since the country pledged to open the sector under World Trade Organization rules.  The top U.S. long-distance phone provider agreed to take a 25 percent stake in Shanghai Symphony Telecom Co, a $25 million broadband service provider to be launched in the Pudong business district of Shanghai next year, company officials said.

The agreement allows AT&T to provide a range of services including private networks and high-speed voice and data services to foreign and Chinese multinationals in the rapidly expanding district.  The AT&T deal marks the first telecoms service joint venture with a foreign company in mainland China, company officials said.  AT&T executives said current global clients included General Motors and Citicorp, and they would be on the lookout for business opportunities beyond Pudong.  AT&T would also be open to increasing its stake in the venture in future.

Internet 2 crops up on college campuses
Source: iLocus

Kamal Jabbour, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Syracuse University, typed a series of commands on his computer keyboard to demonstrate the speed of an Internet 2 connection.  He traced a packet of data travelling from his computer to a computer at the University of Oregon, which also has Internet 2, and another to a computer at Le Moyne College, a non-Internet 2 campus also located in Syracuse.  When he finished seconds later, Jabbour concluded that it took less time to for the data to reach Oregon than Le Moyne.

Internet 2 is an advanced computer network used by a select group of institutions to conduct experiments. One of its uses is to transfer high resolution material. The Internet 2 network consists of 180 universities and various companies and government agencies nationwide, according to www.internet2.edu.  "It was created to support special research and education because the regular Internet was too slow and congested," said Ben Ware, vice president of Research and Computing at Syracuse University.

Built entirely of high-speed fiber optic lines, the Internet 2 backbone can transfer data at speeds between 2.4 and 9.6 billion bits per second, according to www.webopedia.com. In comparison, T3, the standard backbone connection for most of the Internet, has a maximum transfer rate of 45 million bits per second, the site continued.  By using the regular Internet, for example, it takes about 17 seconds to transfer an entire audio CD over the Internet using a direct T3 connection. But with Internet 2, it takes around 300 thousandths of a second to download an audio CD of the same length.  SU has been a member of the Internet 2 group since it was formed in 1996.

Brooktrout teams with NMS to develop corporate voice portal solutions
Source: iLocus

This platform will enable developers to build new Voice Web applications from the ground up, using the hardware and software technologies from NMS, Brooktrout Software and Nuance.  As part of the launch of the Voice Caster Development Platform, Natural MicroSystems will also be introducing Brooktrout software to their enterprise customers.  Corporate voice portals provide enterprise customers with anytime/anywhere access to critical company information via standard or mobile phones.

Advanced speech recognition technology allows users to navigate menus and perform transactions by voice instead of touch-tone. Also, text-to-speech technology can be used to read back key information to the user over a phone or mobile device.

Plastic microchips move forward
Source: Spectrum

Researchers at Cambridge University, England, announced on 26 November that they aim to demonstrate a prototype of the world’s first commercial plastic microprocessor by the summer of 2001. They have formed a company called Plastic Logic, and though the group would not provide many specifics, it said it intends to use equipment similar to industrial inkjet printers. The chips’ substrate will be a family of exotic plastics like polythiophenes and oligothiophenes, whose degree of conductivity at specific locations can be affected by the addition of chemicals at those points. The carbon-based additives will be squirted onto the plastic in tiny globules, much as standard printers shoot ink onto paper.

Currently, the best inkjet printers can achieve resolutions on the order of 25 µm. To make the leap in fineness of detail necessary for semiconductor production, the researchers would have to make the printers’ nozzles spray several chemicals simultaneously.

Plastic microchips will have a host of applications for which silicon-based semiconductors would be far too expensive. Silicon semiconductors are expensive to produce and can range in price from a dollar to hundreds of dollars, while plastic ones are predicted to cost just a few cents. They might make it feasible for manufacurers to include labels on their products that allow, say, a shopping cart full of groceries to be scanned and interrogated at checkout without being removed from the basket.

Microsoft wades in
Source: Teledotcom

Microsoft Corp. is questioning the effect a merger between America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. would have on high-speed Internet access, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, Dec 6th.  Time Warner and AOL have been negotiating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an attempt to win approval for the landmark media deal, originally valued at about $164 billion. 

The FTC has insisted the two companies open high-speed cable lines to one or more Internet rivals as a condition for approval.   The commission is now expected to vote on approval by the middle of next week, the newspaper said, citing people close to the case.

EarthLink Inc. announced a deal two weeks ago to offer high-speed Web services over Time Warner's cable system, the second largest in the U.S.  Microsoft also tried to get an access deal with Time Warner, but Time Warner chose EarthLink instead, the paper said.  Microsoft has met with commissioners, arguing that the EarthLink deal should go even further, to ensure lower costs for consumers, the report said.

The FTC has a tentative agreement with Time Warner under which it would open its high-speed cable lines to AOL's competitors before AOL can offer Internet service over those same lines, the paper said.

Home wireless war rages over standards
Source: Comsoc

Two wireless networking technologies--Wi-Fi (802.11B) and HomeRF--are competing to become the industry standard. The wireless technologies allow devices to connect with one another and share information. Although many technology companies are backing just one of the technologies in an effort to ensure their chosen technology becomes the accepted standard, other companies, including IBM, Proxim, and Cayman Systems, are supporting both to let market forces decide which will become dominant. For now, Wi-Fi has the market advantage, because it is widely used by businesses. "HomeRF has a significant challenge in the marketplace," says IBM Mobile Systems' Leo Suarez. "What is going to drive wireless implementation in the home is the corporate person working at home, and they are going to say, 'Whatever I have at the office, I want in the home.' All the corporations are going with (Wi-Fi). You can't stop a wave." Also, Wi-Fi's 11 Mbps transfer rate compares favorably with HomeRF's 1.6 Mbps rate, although the FCC recently decided to allow HomeRF to increase its rate to 10 Mbps.

Intel and Analog Devices ring in new DSP
Source: ZDnet

Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc. have announced a new digital signal processor architecture designed to pave the way for the next generation of mobile computing devices.  Called Micro Signal Architecture, the technology aims to deliver high-performance signal processing capabilities for mobile computing devices, ranging from MP3 players to cellular phones, operating on 2.5G or 3G cellular networks.

These so-called fat-pipe networks, which are yet to be rolled out in the United States, require hefty computing power because they allow for both digital (such as video) and analog (such as voice) communications. The first DSP based on Micro Signal Architecture will sample at 300MHz or 336MIPS (millions of instructions per second). The companies say, however, that the core has the capability to scale in clock speed to 1GHz.

Micro Signal Architecture targets a convergence of technologies; however, Intel and Analog Devices do not intend to converge on each other's product plans.  Analog Devices will target the market for stand-alone digital signal processors, whereas Intel will package the DSP with its own XScale processor and flash memory.

Dell introduces 32-way system
Source: Commweb

After years of extolling the virtues of using numerous small servers to power big Web sites and data centers, Dell Computer on Tuesday acknowledged that not all of its enterprise customers are ready to put their faith in such an architecture. Taking the plunge into large-scale symmetric multiprocessor computing, the build-to-order PC and server maker said that early next year it will begin selling a Dell-branded 32-processor server designed for heavy-duty tasks such as database hosting and transaction processing.

Among other things, the new 32-way Dell PowerEdge will support up to 96 PCI channels and give users the ability to run multiple operating systems--Windows and Linux, for instance--on a single box. It will also be able to run Intel's forthcoming 64-bit Itanium processors in concert with 32-bit Pentium III Xeon chips. The system will be an original equipment manufacturer version of Unisys' ES7000 server, which Unisys also resells to Compaq. Dell did not disclose pricing.

Ericsson and Intel make Bluetooth pact
Source: itworldcanada

L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. agreed to cross the pond Monday, Dec 4th,  and provide a large chunk of its Bluetooth wireless technology to Intel Corp.  Stockholm-based Ericsson signed a licensing agreement with Intel to cover the supply of Ericsson intellectual property relating to Bluetooth technology to the chipmaker.

Bluetooth is a standard for short-distance wireless communications. It allows devices to be connected at speeds up to one M bit per second and distances of up to 10 metres. Announced in 1998, Bluetooth technology uses a small radio chip to replace cable connections in many devices, including laptops, headphones, and printers.

Intel looks for the deal to broaden its product offerings to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the wireless space. Intel will use hardware and software related to Ericsson's Bluetooth Core Product and software for its HOST Stack product. The Bluetooth Core Product consists of baseband software and hardware designs that help put Bluetooth technology into chips. The HOST Stack is a software component that eases communication between devices.

GoLong to test doubling of DSL loop
Source: ispworld

Symmetricom Inc., a provider of network enhancement products for converged voice, data and video networks, has announced that the Chester Telephone Co. will field trial Symmetricom's GoLong Loop Extender to double the reach of its digital subscriber line (DSL) network.

Chester had deployed remote DSLAM terminals solving some of their long-loop problems but still has problems serving loops in excess of the 18,000 feet. The GoLong field trial will be implemented using a single repeater to provide service for customers located beyond 18,000 feet.

Symmetricom's GoLong extender is a loop extender product that solves a technological limitation for telecom carriers. Using current technology, the performance of asynchronous DSL (ADSL) services drops off significantly at distances of about 13,000 to 14,000 feet from the central office (CO), and ADSL no longer works at distances of more than 18,000 feet from the CO, Symmetricom said.  "Thanks to GoLong, innovative independent telephone company service providers such as Chester Telephone can now provide DSL broadband services to everyone— not just those lucky enough to live within 15,000 feet of a serving office," said Barry Dropping, Symmetricom's GoLong director of engineering. "By enabling DSL services to reach as far as 30,000 feet from the central office, GoLong can allow carriers such as Chester Telephone Company to effectively offer universal DSL services."