AT&T’s Project Lightspeed, the video-over-DSL platform that will give the giant telco a multichannel video pipeline into the home, isn’t hampered by bandwidth limitations, according to company COO Randall Stephenson, who spoke this morning at Bank of America’s 2006 Media, Entertainment and Telecommunications conference. AT&T’s video effort is dependent on fiber built to the node or curb, with souped-up copper loops capable of transmitting 25 Mbps to 30 Mbps to the home.
This cost-effective and faster-speed-to-market approach has had its critics, who contend that the copper lines might not yield enough bandwidth for super-fast high-speed connections or bandwidth-intensive high-definition video channels. Stephenson said that in terms of high-speed service, it’s irrelevant that cable operators are pumping up their connections to 16 Mbps and more, speed levels that the Lightspeed architecture would be hard-pressed to match.
“In the foreseeable future, having a 15 Mbps Internet capability is irrelevant because the backbone doesn’t transport at those speeds,” he told the conference attendees. Stephenson said that AT&T’s field tests have shown “no discernable difference” between AT&T’s 1.5 Mbps service and Comcast’s 6 Mbps because the problem is not in the last mile but in the backbone.
Once AT&T enhances its backbone capabilities and (network neutrality proponents take note!) implements service level quality agreements with content providers, then you might start to see a difference in last-mile speeds, Stephenson argued.
In terms of Lightspeed’s ability to push through hundreds of video channels, including high-def video, “we’re not constrained by bandwidth. You’re not constrained by the size of the pipe anymore,” Stephenson said, referring to the switched-video capacity of the network which delivers only one service to a single customer at a time.
Stephenson said that when Project Lightspeed officially launches in San Antonio in June (the company currently has a “controlled” launch there), it will offer over 200 video channels and 50 high-def channels.
Cynthia Brumfield at 8:42 AM|Comments(3)
For a 30-minute audio interview, recorded April 4, 2006, with AT&T California President Ken McNeely, talking about telecom franchising reform in California, go to:
http://etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn520-5551212.html
For a 90-minute audio interview, recorded January 27, 2006, with Verizon spokesperson Bill Kula about FiOS fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology and deployment, go to:
http://www.etopiamedia.net/emtnn/pages/ent-emtnn/ent-emtnn39-5551212.html
To listen to this same audio interview while watching bouncing video of a walk in the park after California rain, go to:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5388419328952059652&q=etopia+media&pl=true
or to:
Posted by: Steve Lake at April 6, 2006 12:01 AM
This comment is so silly it's hard to believe that analysts will continue to believe all is well with Project Lightspeed.
Posted by: Andrew Schmitt at March 30, 2006 11:15 AM
Hilarious. How do you explain my 700+ KByte/sec downloads? Not a chance you can get the same speed from a 1.5 Mbit/sec DSL line. What an idiot.
Posted by: James Bailey at March 29, 2006 8:37 PM
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