With cable modem trials under way all across the country, high-speed Internet access is slowly working its way into mainstream America, where users are starting to see the potential of an Internet unbound. But with the traditional cable TV providers dictating how cable modem service will be delivered, it looks unlikely that users will be able to choose between cable modem providers as they now do with ISPs.
There are currently about 30 different cable modem manufacturers, although the three biggest - LANcity, Motorola, and Zenith - control the majority of the market, selling their hardware to cable providers, which implement the systems. Unlike the software and networking industries that have evolved around the Internet, cable providers are under no pressure to provide open standards that give smaller developers a chance to produce competing products. Since most cable companies are legal monopolies, they can set policies regarding customer-owned equipment and thereby create their own proprietary standards. The only competition they have to contend with, then, is from other high-speed access technologies, such as ADSL, which several major phone carriers will be offering later this year.
"Our policy is that all equipment on our network must be owned by us. Anyone who owns their own descrambler is using it against our wishes, and we will stop providing service to them. It's reasonable to think that we would do the same with someone who owns an unauthorized cable modem," said one cable modem service provider who asked to remain anonymous.
What all this means to the user is that the cable provider in their region will likely have the same control over cable modem service as they now have over cable TV service.
How they work
Cable modems connect to a network via standard 75-ohm coaxial cable, and communicate with computers using standard Ethernet (user's computers need to have an Ethernet card installed). The fastest cable networks claim to have 10-Mbps pipelines - which are nearly 100 times the size of ISDN lines - in each direction. However, when cable companies connect their own networks to the Internet, the vast majority use single T1 lines. This means that, in reality, customers are sharing 1.54 Mbps of connectivity to the Internet at large. Installation charges for cable modems are less than US$200, and monthly service fees range from $20 to $60.
Early users of cable modem services said it allows them to do things that require lots of bandwidth, such as sharing large files, videoconferencing, and providing network services from home.
"Its just like being on an Ethernet, especially to other cable modem customers. It lets you do things that would be impossible with a 28.8 modem," said Joe Hertz, an early adopter of Jones Intercable's Service, who is running his own Web server and mail server from home with the service. He also noted, however, that he would like to be able to route more than one IP address - or computer - through the modem.
The standards game
Although there is little incentive for the cable providers to develop an open, interoperable standard, the IEEE has started drafting just such a thing. In turn, the cable industry-owned Multimedia Cable Network System has started drafting one of its own. Because the two standards will be incompatible, no clear standard will emerge until hardware developers start supporting them in new products. LANcity, the industry leader that was purchased last year by Bay Networks, has announced that it will support the MCNS standard in its next generation of cable modems.
If a standard is widely adopted, consumers will be able to purchase a cable modem from a wide range of retail channels, and have it work with any cable company's system. This is not at all unlike today's traditional modem market, where users can purchase a 28.8 modem and use it with any ISP's hardware.
"The purpose of setting standards is to bring the hardware closer to a consumer level," said Mark Laubach of Com21, a consulting firm that works closely with the cable industry. "When modems interoperate, users will not only be able to buy them from retail outlets, but will be able to choose the modem with the features and price that fit them best."
Thus far, the cable companies have experienced some of the growing pains that once plagued new ISPs. But rather than experiencing bottlenecks between users' modems and ISP networks - the typical weak link in a home user's connection - the cable companies are finding bottlenecks in their own connections to the Internet, which in turn has an effect on end users' connections. The problem won't be resolved until the cable companies add more external lines, but this isn't likely to happen until more paying customers are on board.
