Reader Response: DSL and cable both lose

***A ZDNN reader replies to the story Why DSL will win the broadband-access battle***

DSL won't win. Cable won't win either.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. But neither can reach or fulfill the bandwidth requirements of 100 percent, much less 50 percent, of the customers that are out there.

I don't give much credence to the idea that phone companies will be more reliable. Except for one week, our ISDN service (yes, ISDN, we are out of range of DSL and cable won't serve the businesses in our complex, even though apartments 200 feet away are wired...go figure) has been down since March 17th and it's MCI WorldCom's fault!

Let's see, Pac Bell is opening a new office here in Fresno that will speed up their DSL rollout. As far as I remember, their so called "Project Pronto" will bring DSL access to a majority of customers (not all) sometime in 2001 or 2002.

That does not sound good to me.

And even if one technology should get a leg up over the other, everyone should keep in mind that these bandwidth levels are not going to be sufficient to handle tomorrow's applications. It seems great because it's so much faster than dial up but it will never be enough.

If I were in the biz I'd be figuring out how to bring at a minimum 10mbps access to neighborhoods and office complexes and leapfrog this whole cable vs. DSL competition within the next 2-3 years, and be prepared to upgrade service to 100mpbs.

Wireless access is an interesting area to watch for covering "the last mile". Don't forget about that.

Name: Matthew Davidian
Location: Fresno, Calif.
Occupation: Software Developer