Bell Atlantic to Test High-Speed Home Networking - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Oct 18, 1999

Recognizing the growing number of households with multiple computers, Bell Atlantic will test a service that will give consumers a high-speed local area network (LAN) in their home without the need for costly new wiring.

About 30 Bell Atlantic.net customers with Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) service will participate in the trial throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

The trial will enable family members and people with home offices to connect multiple PCs to the Internet simultaneously. After networking hardware is installed in their computers, participants will simply plug multiple computers into different phone jacks to network their computers together. Participants will also be able to network other equipment such as fax machines, printers and scanners.

"Home networking will put an end to family disputes about who can go online when there is only one high-speed Internet connection in a household," said Amy McIntosh, president of consumer data services for Bell Atlantic. "Consumers will be able to enjoy the high-speed access that our Infospeed DSL service affords, and they will be able to swap files between PCs, enjoy multi-player games and share additional hardware."

This revolutionary application of new technologies grew from Bell Atlantic's participation in the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA). In June, Bell Atlantic became the first regional Bell company to join HomePNA, a consortium of industry leaders committed to establishing a universal standard for high-speed home networking using existing copper phone lines.

Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL, which is Bell Atlantic's brand name for Digital Subscriber Line technology, will allow those participating in the trial to access the Internet at speeds up to 126 times faster than that afforded by a 56 kilobits per second (Kbps) modem. The digital high-speed service provides an "always-on" link to the global Internet. By taking advantage of unused capacity available in existing telephone lines, the technology allows consumers to use a single phone line to send faxes or make phone calls while they are surfing the Internet.

HomePNA partners Tut Systems, Lynksys, 3Com and Diamond Multimedia will provide adapters, network interface cards (NICs) and other networking hardware for the trial.

Tut Systems, a HomePNA founding member, is providing HomeRun adapters that create a high-speed, always-on Ethernet LAN over existing phone lines and every phone jack in the home. No new wires or connections are required, and HomeRun operates concurrently with existing telephone service at speeds 20 times faster than a dial-up connection.

"The technology provides the bandwidth necessary for today's home networking applications like shared Internet access, shared peripherals and multi-player gaming," said Sal D'Auria, president and CEO of Tut Systems. "The combination of Tut's HomeRun technology, the most highly utilized home networking technology in the industry, coupled with Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL service will give customers a very powerful and valuable high speed networked infrastructure."

Lynksys will provide a full line of HomePNA networking products including HomeLink V.1 NICs, PCMCIA cards, USB adapters and broadband Ethernet to phone line bridges. "These products will enhance Bell Atlantic's complete offering of networking hardware," said Janie Tsao, Linksys vice president of business development. "Linksys is pleased to see that Bell Atlantic has developed a strong marketing strategy that offers the latest and most complete line of networking hardware for DSL customers."

3Com Corporation, providing its new HomeConnect home networking product lines spanning Ethernet and phone line applications, will be offering both solutions for Bell Atlantic's home networking trial. To simplify network setup and use, 3Com HomeConnect network kits and adapters include easy-to-use Microsoft HomeClick Network Software, featuring a step-by-step setup wizard and Network Center application. With HomeClick Network Software, complex network configuration functions are transparent to consumers.

"Home-based applications like shared Internet access and printer sharing will drive the home networking market, requiring robust, high-speed technologies such as DSL," said Rich Redelfs, vice president of 3Com's Wireless and Home Connectivity Division.

Diamond Multimedia will provide industry-leading HomeFree PNA-based home networking products.

Bell Atlantic's home networking trial is scheduled to run six to eight weeks. Upon completion of the trial, the company hopes to expand the technology to business customers, using 3Comm's Ethernet application, and introduce a home-networking product by the end of the year.

HomePNA was established in June 1998. It is an incorporated, non-profit association of more than 100 industry-leading companies -- spanning the networking, telecommunications, hardware, software and consumer electronics industries -- working towards a single, unified, phone line networking industry standard and rapidly bring to market a range of interoperable home networking solutions. HomePNA technology does not use wiring back to a central hub, such as in a corporate computer network, and users can simultaneously access the Internet and make phone calls on the same line.