[reprinted from IEEE - Fort Worth Section Signals
January 1997]
by Jeff Carrell, Electronic Communications Chairman
14.4Kbps in 1994, 28.8Kbps in 1995, 33.6Kbps in 1996,
56Kbps in 1997, where will it end? How many of these different
speed modems do you own? It is beginning to appear that every
year we're going to be purchasing a newer, faster modem, or upgrading
the existing modem we have. (this is the Tim Taylor syndrome again,
need more speed)
You are probably wondering which Internet Service
Provider (ISP) will be supporting connections with that new 56K
modem that you received for Christmas. Well, if your one of the
early adopters of this technology, your answer is not many, if
any at all anytime soon. In limited research, I have not found
any Dallas/Fort Worth ISPs announcing specific implementation
plans, or timelines when they will be installing or upgrading
to 56K modems. Flashnet Communications (FTW) is the only ISP in
our area listed on the USR web page as supporting the X2 technology
(USR name for 56K modem technology) in the future, but Flashnet
has not released any other information that I am aware of.
There are at least four manufacturers that have announced
plans and/or products supporting this new modem speed. The catch,
there has yet to be a standard defined, and it doesn't appear
that there will even be a standard available until late 1997 or
into 1998. Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Lucent Technologies,
Motorola Information Systems Group, and USRobotics have all announced
their plans for 56K modems and chip sets available for other modem
manufacturers. Of these, it appears that USR has the market share
of modems installed by ISPs making it easier and less expensive
for them to upgrade. More importantly, since there is no standard,
none of the currently announced products will inter-operate with
each other at 56K speeds, but may communicate with each other
at only 33.6K speeds.
Some key technology issues:
After reading this brief introduction on 56K modems,
you may feel I am being negative about the technology. I am not
trying to put it down, rather bring to light some of the key issues
about it, and let you decide for yourself. My recommendation would
be to position yourself with modem technology that is capable
of supporting this new 56K technology, but hold off trying to
implement until it is a more mature and standards supporting product.
For more information and manufacturers links on 56K modems, visit this excellent URL:
http://users.aimnet.com/~jnavas/modem/faq.html#Modem56K
Have a question or want to know more details about
e-mail, the Internet, electronic communications or related technologies?
Send a note to me or Signals editor and we will try discuss
it in a future article. If your society, company or other organization
would like an Internet presentation let me know. (no commercial
pitch)
Copyright © 1996 Jeffrey L. Carrell. All Rights
Reserved