At 03:19 AM 1/23/98 -0000, you 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
http://techweb.cmp.com/eet/news/97/941news/central.html and yes you've got to have colo at the CO. I'm not sure how they're going to hand off. I would think it would make sense for CLEC's to do the aggregation of DSL subscription and point it back to the customer i.e. the ISP pulls a circuit into our CO, and we split the traffic after carrying it back from the CO for the ISP. Disclaimer: I'm thinking out loud. We're about to start DSL trials and I'm only certain of the colo situation. Regards, -- Martin Hannigan hannigan@xcom.net Director of Data Networks V:617.500.0108 XCOM Technologies, INC. F:617.500.0002 The Leading Carrier for ISP's http://www.xcom.net