Posted 10/01/2001
The Need for Speed
Hi Gail.
That's right ... I admit it. I am addicted to high-speed Internet access.
If you had asked me 18 months ago about the possibility of developing this sort of addiction, I would have scoffed that it could never happen to me. At that time I had a dial-up account, and was getting access at 50 kbps on average, which was good enough for perusing news wires and web sites for story research.
My world changed a year ago. I moved into a new house and got my first taste of broadband after my cable modem was installed. My eyes have been opened to a whole host of new resources and some guilty pleasures. All of this would have been impossible with my old dial-up account.
With my cable modem, I don't have to press the phone to my ear for hours listening to corporate conference calls. I can have a webcast running in the background while I diligently type notes. I can keep up with world news through video clips from various news sites. I can see amusing TV advertisements on Adcritic.com. And (I'm not proud to admit this) I can watch clips from "Big Brother 2", in the event I neglected to watch the show on TV the night before.
I'm not the only one who needs a regular broadband fix.
Demand for DSL and cable modems is still strong, even though the companies providing the services seem to be struggling or going out of business. There are almost 18 million home broadband users in the United States, according to recent stats from Nielsen/NetRating Inc. (www.nielsen-netrating.com). The number of users grew 121 percent in the past year. It wouldn't surprise me if, at this time next year, the number of broadband users has doubled again.
Unfortunately, the troubles service providers face could put a damper on residential broadband growth. Without as much pressure from upstarts, there's a possibility that ILECs--the predominant residential DSL providers--may slack off on their deployments to seek out more profitable lines of business. And many cable company customers could find themselves at a loss for broadband access if financial problems persist for Excite@Home.
It's not likely that either scenario will happen, since orders continue to come in for both DSL and cable modem service, and no sane company in this competitive environment would want to risk offending customers by disrupting a popular offering.
I hope these broadband providers can continue bringing high-speed access to residential customers. I know it's selfish. But, I can't imagine going a day, much less a few hours, without my beloved broadband access.
GAIL LAWYER
EDITOR IN CHIEF
