No Subject

[bob@larribeau.com (Bob Larribeau)]

  This was an interesting article that appeared in Network World a couple of
  weeks ago.  Not the following quotes:
  
       US WEST, Inc. said the device could mean cutting the percentage of its
  ISDN Basic Rate Interface lines that need repeaters from 15% to 5%. Pacific
  Bell said the product would cut its need to use repeaters from 30% to
  between 6% and 10%.
       'This will definitely help,' said Tim Baylis, director of switched
  services for Pacific Bell.
  
  The cost of extenders was a major justification for Pacific Bell's tariff
  increase proposal.  Wonder how this product effects their cost studies?
  
  Bob Larribeau
  
  
  
  ===========================================================================
  [From the Network World Archive]
  
  Adtran extends reach of ISDN
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  By Tim Greene
  
  03/11/96
  
       Huntsville, Ala.
       Adtran, Inc. has found an answer to what has been a major obstacle to
  widespread ISDN availability: insufficient range.
       The problem is that ISDN can reach only 18,000 feet and then needs a
  costly repeater. But Adtran's Total Reach increases the range of a line to
  30,500 feet without a repeater, increasing the service area of an
  ISDN-equipped central office by 70%.
       US WEST, Inc. said the device could mean cutting the percentage of its
  ISDN Basic Rate Interface lines that need repeaters from 15% to 5%. Pacific
  Bell said the product would cut its need to use repeaters from 30% to
  between 6% and 10%.
       'This will definitely help,' said Tim Baylis, director of switched
  services for Pacific Bell.
       Recently in California, the cost of adding repeaters was partially
  blamed for a proposed rate hike by Pacific Bell (NW, Jan. 22, page 21).
  According to Adtran, once Total Reach is in full production, it will cost
  about $600 for the hardware to provision one ISDN line to 30,500 feet.
       Hardware for a repeater costs about $1,800 plus another $700 or so to
  install it, a US WEST spokesman said.
       'This would make it much more cost-effective for RBOCs to service
  customers with ISDN,' said Michael Smith, an analyst with Datapro
  Information Services Group in Delran, N.J.
       'There are two exciting parts: It increases the accessible market and
  it significantly reduces the cost,' said Scott Berman, an ISDN manager at
  US WEST.
       Good timing
       The product comes at a critical point for ISDN, when cable TV
  providers are close to offering digital services using cable modems and
  phone companies are weighing whether to offer Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
  Line - technologies that can offer much higher bandwidth than ISDN.
       'ISDN needs to be deployed rapidly over the next 12 months. If not,
  cable modems will offer a compelling alternative solution,' Smith said.
       Adtran's Total Reach might not be the only solution. Pacific Bell's
  Baylis said the company is working on its own solution that might be even
  less expensive. Total Reach, however, looks like a good interim measure, he
  said.
       Total Reach reduces the loss of power of the ISDN signal in the copper
  wire and increases the tolerance for noise on the line, according to Adtran
  Chief Executive Officer Mark Smith.
       The product consists of a central-office card that is compatible with
  switches from AT&T, Northern Telecom, Inc., Siemens Rolm Communications,
  Inc. and other companies, and a network interface unit that would be
  installed on the customer premises.
       Adtran said it had turned over samples of Total Reach to NYNEX Corp.,
  Bell Atlantic Corp., US WEST and Pacific Bell for testing and review.
       Limited production of the units will start in the third quarter for
  about $1,000 per circuit. As volume ramps up, the price will drop to $600,
  Smith said.
       Adtran: (205) 971-8000.
  
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