On 23 Jan 1998, John R. Levine wrote:
Today there was an article in the sci-tech section of cnn.com mentioning that Microsoft was teaming up with Intel and Compaq to offer xDSL service to the homes for a very low price. They claim to be able to provide Internet access "30 times faster" than regular modems.
The announcement also said that four of the five baby Bells (all but BA) are also in on the deal so they'll all use common xDSL standards, something that's been a problem in the past.
But the important thing they did not say (and which may be of some interest to NANOG) was what is supposed to happen to the packets once they whiz down the DSL wire from the consumer to the phone company central office, since DSL data, unlike ISDN or regular dialup connections, doesn't go through the phone switch. Whoever handles that IP traffic needs a router or something similar next to the phone switch to connect to those DSL pairs. Do the Bells plan to hand all the traffic to their oh-so-independent ISP subsidiaries? Will it be gold rush time as every ISP in the country scrambles to get colo space
My X-files conspiracy idea of the week on this is that they don't care about the oh-so independent ISPs because they (Microsoft/RBOCs) will construct their own backbone to haul this traffic and force everyone else to peer with them ON THEIR TERMS! It's the microsoft way to try and set the standard by force of numbers, they utterly failed at this tactict when dealing with the internet, they failed at trying to get users to opt for MSN over the (IETF style) Internet, this is just another attempt at an end run around people like us. The RBOCs have the last mile, UUNET has the Internet technology, Compaq has the sales channels into business (the initial beachhead) Intel will make the xDSl chipset so they get economy of scale. The question is who will pay to build the backend infrastructure? All they gotta do is connect to the NAPs and then start building a NAP structure of their own, set to their own standards and protocols, this is a good way to blindside Internet-II and IPv6 deployment. Opps, I gotta go, the;re are some black helicopters hovering outside my house :) geoffw