Sprint is promising that it's new, high-speed data network will turn phone lines everywhere into powerful voice, video, and Internet pipes. But that's not to suggest that it's a magic pill.
For delivery to every home and business, Sprint's new system is no different than any other. It depends on the mass installation of high-speed connections. When it comes to phone lines, those connections will still depend on digital subscriber line technology.
Rather than replacing the need for ADSL, Sprint is packaging it as part of a single high-speed data service, Integrated On-Demand Network (ION).
"It's hard to read [into Sprint's announcement] because it's a blur of acronymns," said Brett Azuma, chief analyst for the industry-research firm Dataquest. He said Sprint appears intent on creating "a more integrated approach" to providing high-speed data service.
"Rather than worrying about cable vs. ADSL or anything else, what [Sprint] will do is provide a solution to customers in a turnkey fashion," Azuma said.
Sprint's president of national integrated services, Kevin Brauer, acknowledged this dependence on ADSL.
Sprint will purchase the last-mile service from local providers, Brauer said, which are known as competitive local exchange carriers. These carriers are aggressively deploying high-speed, last-mile connections such as DSL and fiber to businesses. "When you acquire [broadband capabilities], you'll acquire through Sprint," he said.
Sprint announced the US$2 billion upgrade to its network this morning, promising "virtually unlimited bandwidth over a single existing telephone line for simultaneous voice, video calls, and data services."
ION, said Sprint, will offer unprecendented capabililties, including advanced broadband video and data transmission over older switched-phone networks, extending the reach of advanced services to more customers.
As Azuma sees it, where ADSL service is available, Sprint's new offering will be significant if it can streamline what is a confusing array of choices for consumers.
Otherwise, the consumer has to shop among equipment providers, phone companies, and service providers. In contrast, Sprint's plan consolidates these choices into one product. Sprint will handle packaging and marketing and sell it through Radio Shack, in a distribution-channel partnership announced today.
Early reaction from the ADSL Forum, another industry consortium pushing for the advancement of DSL technologies, expressed confidence in the future of this technology. "Regardless of new fiber-based infrastructure rebuilds, the ADSL Forum is confident that ADSL will be widely deployed to turn those phone lines into high-speed broadband pipes," said Bill Rodey, the forum's vice president.
Meanwhile, Azuma said the company is going out on a limb in touting the benefits of the network whose commercial availability is a long way off for many of the potential customers. "This is a very gutsy move."
But he sees it as a strategy that's been brewing and may pay off. "You haven't heard a lot from Sprint in these last few years on data and this could be why."
Sprint, the nation's third largest long-distance telelphone company, said ION will be available to large businesses later this year, to smaller businesses in mid-1999, and to consumers in late 1999.
