Gotta Get Broadband - Industry Trend or Event

Home Office Computing, Feb, 2001 by Dan Costa

Working from home can offer Countless benefits over working at the office, but having to dial up your ISP on an analog phone line isn't one of them. Fortunately, cable and digital-subscriber-line (DSL) Internet access provide up to 10Mbps connection speeds. And although they cost at least twice as much as conventional dial-up service, most users think that office network-like connection speeds and always-on service are worth the investment.

The rollout of broadband services has been slow as providers strive to supply the largest cities with access first. But now, most areas of the country have at least one broadband option. And many users are signing up.

Residential broadband subscribers will total 20.7 million by 2003, representing a 356 percent increase from year-end 2000 levels, according to a study by eMarketer Inc., a market research firm based in New York City. The study also projects that by year-end 2000, broadband subscribers will represent 23 percent of the overall Internet access market. By 2003, eMarketer anticipates that 40 percent of Internet users will be surfing with broadband connections.

Not all of those broadband users will have cable or DSL modems--a small portion of them will use wireless technologies. Firms like Hughes Network Services and Starband offer satellite Internet access that rivals DSL's speeds. And Sprint PCS is offering a fixed-point wireless service in about 40 cities nationwide. So far, wireless services have appealed mostly to subscribers in remote locations where DSL and cable are unavailable, but this may be changing (see "Broadband Goes Wireless" in this issue's Up Front section).

MORE THAN JUST SPEED

What can home office workers do with broadband that they can't do with an analog modem connection?

"It makes life simpler," says Daryle Brown, solutions marketing manager for 3Com Corp., which makes cable modem equipment. "Working at home becomes as easy as working in the office because consumers have almost the same quality of connections now."

The most obvious advantage of broadband is faster Internet download times. Surfing the Web and exchanging large files are no longer slow, painful processes prone to time-outs. Beyond that, however, broadband has expanded the range of applications home users can utilize. Business applications that don't make sense at dial-up speeds--videoconferencing, for one--become far more feasible with broadband.

In addition, most application service provider (ASP) and networking applications are practical only when a broadband connection is in place.

"For remote office access, broadband gives faster access to applications running on the company LAN" says Brown. "This applies also when accessing applications from the growing number of applications for rent by ASPs"

Using PlayNow.com, a broadband software-on-demand service, home office workers can rent or subscribe to business software, which is delivered in real time over the broadband network.

"Instead of buying and installing productivity or reference software, users can rent or subscribe to just what they need--just when they need it" says Bill Holding, vice president of marketing at Into Networks, which created the streaming technology that makes PlayNow.com work.

For example, Holding says, a small-business owner might need to write a marketing plan, but not want to purchase software for a onetime project. On PlayNow.com's office channel, a user can subscribe to The Idiot's Guide to Writing a Marketing Plan for 48 hours for just $2.99. The software is launched on the user's desktop, but it is not installed. A business plan is created, the files are saved locally, and the software goes away once the rental period is up.

Similarly, a home office user might want to take advantage of Lotus Smart-Suite, but not have the budget or resources to keep it updated, installed, and serviced. In this case, the user can choose a monthly or annual subscription to the office channel, where dozens of office and productivity titles are available for just $5.99 a month.

SEARCHING FOR SERVICE

The first step in getting broadband service is to learn what's available in your area. To get DSL, you must be within a particular distance of a local exchange. The closer you are, the better your connection will be. Although a handful of true DSL providers exist--including Covad, NorthPoint, and your local Baby Bell--in most cases you will need to order DSL service from your ISP. Earthlink, for example, resells Covad's DSL service in much of the country.

One or two cable companies currently operate in most cities or towns. If neither of these companies sells Internet cable service where you are, you'll have to pursue other options.

Once you know who provides service in your area, you should start checking out the details of their packages. Several Web sites will tell you which providers operate in your region and help you evaluate their offerings. Check out C/Net's Web Services (webservices.cnet.com) or DSLReports (www.dslreports.com) for a complete list of providers in your area.