Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0a Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 20:56:56 GMT Accept-ranges: bytes Last-modified: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 20:28:16 GMT Content-length: 10920 Content-type: text/html @Home Network

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THE
FACTS
ABOUT
xDSL

TOP 5 MYTHS OF xDSL

xDSL Myth

@Home Fact

Myth #1:
"xDSL service is almost as fast as cable modem service"
  • @Home's service is up to 5-50x faster than xDSL because of inherent HFC/cable modem advantages and @Home's advanced technologies for sustained end-to-end performance
  • ADSL bandwidth drops precipitously with distance from the telephone central office.
Myth #2:
"xDSL and cable modem service prices are comparable"
  • xDSL prices add up fast when you read the fine print (access charges, Internet service, equipment required, etc.)
  • xDSL typically costs 4-8x as much as @Home service2; @Home also includes advanced multimedia content not available anywhere else (e.g., CD quality music, Video News)
Myth #3:
"xDSL uses copper telephone wiring, so it's ready to go today"
  • RBOCs don't have a "free lunch" -- only 50% of the network is capable of supporting ADSL, and copper plant must be upgraded3
  • The cable industry has been aggressively upgrading for high-speed data and other digital services; over 10 million homes in North America are 2-way HFC today
Myth #4:
"xDSL users have a dedicated connection; in contrast, cable is shared and will potentially be slower with more users"
  • All modern data networks are shared at some level; potentially hundreds of 'dedicated' ADSL lines are concentrated at a central office DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) into a shared ISP connection
  • "It's what's behind it that counts..." -- The shared high-speed cable modem architecture is similar to local area networks used in offices everywhere. True performance/quality measures include scalability with additional users, "effective bandwidth" per customer, and backbone connectivity. HFC's highly scalable "fiber-to-the-neighborhood" approach along with @Home's bandwidth-expanding technologies and high-speed national backbone provide a superior solution (unmatched by DSL service from an ISP who simply plugs into the already overloaded Internet)
Myth #5:
"xDSL is a mass market product"
  • Forrester Research expects less than 250,000 total ADSL circuits by 2001 based on learnings from early deployments (local loop quality, distance attenuation, technology maturity, value proposition, RBOC concerns of high-margin T-1 cannibalization, etc.)
  • Cable is available to 96% of homes in the U.S. according to Paul Kagan Associates; Forward Concepts projects a mass market of over 7 million U.S. cable modem users by 2002

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