SYSMATT@ukcc.uky.edu (Matt Simpson) (12/12/89)
My local CO has just switched over to ESS (I don't know what model), which means subscribers have been deluged with mail and phone calls from the LD carriers telling us that equal access is coming, and we have to select a default carrier. This much I can understand. What I can't understand is all the propaganda from the local BOC (South Central Bell), in the form of bill inserts, news releases, speeches to civic clubs, etc. They keep talking about their new fiber-optic network, and how it makes all this new neat stuff possible. The miracle of fiber-optics will allow us to have call-forwarding, call-waiting, etc. I thought all that stuff was done in the switch -- what does the transmission media have to do with it. Also, where is this amazing new fiber-optics network? I don't think I have glass fibers running into my house, it looks like copper wire to me. Has anyone heard of fiber being used anywhere in the local system, other than inter-office trunks? Is there any connection at all between fiber-optic cables and the availability of all these new features, or does SCB just think we're so dumb they can throw all this gee-whiz hype at us and expect us to be suitably amazed?
ms6b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Marvin Sirbu) (12/12/89)
You are right that most of the gee whiz services BellSouth talks about are a function of the switch, not of the type of wire to the home. On the other hand, there are about 20 fiber to the home trials underway in various parts of the U.S. Several combine voice and video delivery, some voice only. Bellsouth has been a leader in undertaking such trials, but every RHC has one underway. Don't hold your breath waiting for generalized availability. The majority of trials involve new subdivisions where they had to go install new wiring anyway. Replacement of existing copper to the home with fiber is a decade (at least) away. Marvin Sirbu Carnegie Mellon University
brianc@zeta.saintjoe.edu (Brian Capouch) (12/14/89)
In TELECOM Digest #570, Marvin Sirbu writes: >Replacement of existing copper to the home with fiber is a decade (at >least) away. I wish he would have marked this as an opinion. This topic, of course, has been the subject of hot debate amongst telco and networking techies, not to mention savvy venture capitalists, for the past year at least. There is definitely *not* yet a consensus. I am of the "sooner" frame of mind. With the advent of FDDI, SONET, and other high-bandwidth fiber technologies, coupled with a decreasing premium for the cost of installing fiber, there is bound to be a move on the part of *all* common information carriers to wire everything new with fiber. This will, IMHO, cause an upsurge in demand on the part of business and residential consumers, and that resultant demand will push providers into rewiring the rest of the plant with fiber. The bigger question is *who* is going to do the wiring. Will it be TV cable companies, local telcos, or some other innovative entity that is out there on the fringes right now, waiting for the cashflow equations to work out right? The "50 Megabit Living Room" that the folks at the Media Lab have been talking about will be here sooner than most think. "Telecommunications" magazine carried a very informative article about the financial aspects of fiber to the home a year or so ago, and I'm sold on the 5-year timespan as being most likely. But of course, this is just an opinion. I'm inviting flames.
myerston@cts.sri.com (12/16/89)
When I read Marvin Sibu's original comment (No fiber to the home for a decade (at least)) I thought he was being wildly optimistic. Now Brian Capouch sees it within 5 years. Opinions being what they are... Here is mine: Facts: [Maybe Factoids :-)] o We are a long way from rudimentary steps like digital local loops to provide even "ISDN-like" services. Read the actual NUMBERS behind the trials, announcements and PR BS. o While fiber may be getting cheaper vis-a-vis copper the terminal equipment isn't. How is the fiber going to support grammy's black 500 POTS set?. Lets see... a fiber network interface, a fiber mux, a fiber-to-copper converter, an ISDN Terminal Adapter... plus, of course an uninterruptable power source. o Market tests show that most of the general public is not as impressed as us techies by things like HDTV. How many people do you know have megabuck TVs connected to rabbit ears or tolerate third rate CATV systems? Check the history of Teletex services, bank-at-home and interactive video in the US. I wish it were not so, but I think that fiber-to-the-home or even its cousin fiber-to-the-curb are much more than 10 years away. I doubt if things like ISDN, HDTV standards, or even Calling-Party ID ( :-) ) will be settled by the year 2000. Of course, the 37th re-incarnation of the AT&T Picture Phone will be "just over the horizon" by the year 2000. Just an opinion.
dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Levenson) (12/18/89)
In article <2193@accuvax.nwu.edu>, myerston@cts.sri.com writes: > When I read Marvin Sibu's original comment (No fiber to the home for a > decade (at least)) I thought he was being wildly optimistic. Now > Brian Capouch sees it within 5 years. Opinions being what they are... > Here is mine: ... > I wish it were not so, but I think that fiber-to-the-home or even its > cousin fiber-to-the-curb are much more than 10 years away. In my neighborhood, they already run T-1 to the curb -- actually to the SLC-96 buried beneath the curb a couple of blocks from here. In the bundle of cables that feed the SLC-96 vault from the CO, there is one bundle with little red plastic markers hanging from it next to every poll. The marker warns repair crews that the bundle contains optical fiber! Walking the pole line, I have followed the fiber to where it goes underground, a block from the AT&T Bell Labs complex at Liberty Corner! Not exactly fiber to the home, or to the curb, but it's out there in the street. The conversion to copper, and to metallic base-band DC loop technology, is available in the SLC-96 equipment. When a service that is of some value to ordinary comsumers (other than Bell Labs!) is offered, the technolgy appears to be in place to deliver it. Dave Levenson Voice: (201) 647 0900 Westmark, Inc. Internet: dave@westmark.uu.net Warren, NJ, USA UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave