gaarder@theory.tn.cornell.edu (Steve Gaarder) (04/08/91)
This evening I got a call from Columbia Information Systems, who are, it seems, conducting a survey of interest in "new telecommunications services." As the survey person described them, it was clear that she was talking about a residential version of ISDN, though she did not recognize the term. (ISDN provides two bidirectional digital data/voice channels on one pair.) Basically, what the unknown commissioners of the survey seem to be assessing interest in are four flavors of ISDN: a basic service, which provides two voice line capability and all sorts of special features for $40 "more than you are paying now." A version with a digital data interface would be $50. There were two other versions: one which would let you control your home "energy management" (heating, lighting, etc) remotely for $50, and the same thing for a security system for $45. A version encompassing all of the above would be $60 (more than POTS). ISDN requires an interface unit at the demark; it would lease for $22/month or sell for $700. I'm not sure whether the lease price is included in the rates quoted above, but I think so. I asked her what geographical area was being surveyed; she didn't know, but said that was calling numbers all over the eastern time zone. Steve Gaarder gaarder@theory.tn.cornell.edu