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Lucent did this about, what, a year ago? Read here. Nortel has already done this as well. Here's the Nortel link.

Optical switching is really cool, don't get me wrong! The slowest link in any big telco network is the switching equipment. How are you going to resolve Nortel's new 2.4Terabit pipes with OC-3 or OC-12 switching technology? Guess what, not happening.

Have a read about what Lucent and Nortel are doing...very cool stuff.

I'm sorry I gave that impression, as we have both kinds of access available.

For the cable modem users, there's the @Home network, through Rogers and Shaw (depending on who services your area, of course).
For the folks who prefer Telco based, Bell (and now other resellers) is offering what they call Sympatico High Speed Edition, and it's ADSL implemented with the Nortel 1-meg Modem technology, and PPPoE.

I've tried to get both installed, and the @Home installation was pathetic, but I have no respect at all for Rogers anyway, as their TV reception is shit, with frequent snow on channels, and horrible customer service. Bell's tech support is equally bad, with extra long waits on hold for tech support, and flakey PPPoE implementation, but I at least got that on installed in my apartment.

You're right about the wireless being a great solution for Rural Ontario (I've been looking into LookTV for my folks, who live in the boonies and right now only get antenna stuff), but LookTV isn't even out there yet, for the most part. They started out as an alternate to cable in an urban setting, not an alternate to antenna in a rural setting, so they're taking a while to get everywhere in S.Ont. Their high speed net access will roll out just as slowly to the rural areas too. That's the only drawback I can see with them, though. I've only ever heard raves about them.

I hope this makes the S.Ont situation a little more clear. I'm not sure about Satellite PC options, but I believe that the only 2 "legal" satellite providers are ExpressVU and StarChoice, and I don't think they offer Internet access yet.

The Versalar feeds IP-on-ATM or IP-on-fibre direct into the OPTera core switch fabric.

I don't think there's any of the Bay Networks gear involved here. This is definitely backbone carrier stuff, which is Nortel's heartland.

This sounds like a subsidy to Nortel, plus laws which close off the market for router equipment to non-US vendors.

Nortel Networks are a "non-US vendor", as the "About Us" page on their website indicates (note the location of their corporate headquarters).

The Nortel equipment (which is rock solid, BTW) could be based on g.lite, but I don't know.

I infer from a brochure they have on it that it might be, at least, similar technology. Unfortunately, their name for it doesn't include the string "DSL", so it took a bit of work to find info about it under Nortel's "Products & Services" page - they call it the "1-Meg Modem" - but I finally found their home page for it; under it is The 1-Meg Modem Bulletin (which is a PDF document, so you'll need a PDF reader to read it), which says, on page 7, in a sidebar:

As an 'early' G.Lite product, the 1-Meg Modem supports the UAWG value proposition of a splitterless solution optimized for the consumer marketplace. This product will naturally evolve to G.Lite compatibility as that standard solidifies.

The Nortel equipment (which is rock solid, BTW) could be based on g.lite, but I don't know.

I infer from a brochure they have on it that it might be, at least, similar technology. Unfortunately, their name for it doesn't include the string "DSL", so it took a bit of work to find info about it under Nortel's "Products & Services" page - they call it the "1-Meg Modem" - but I finally found their home page for it; under it is The 1-Meg Modem Bulletin (which is a PDF document, so you'll need a PDF reader to read it), which says, on page 7, in a sidebar:

As an 'early' G.Lite product, the 1-Meg Modem supports the UAWG value proposition of a splitterless solution optimized for the consumer marketplace. This product will naturally evolve to G.Lite compatibility as that standard solidifies.

I designed a large disparate Sun/Solaris network that uses Networked Terminal Servers and serial consoles to achieve just what you're trying to do. As you know, people suggesting Keyboard/Monitor switches or simply setting "Serial on console port" have not ever really managed a large network :-). I have thought a lot about this kind of support in Linux.

I think all you need is BIOS support for a serial console. The OpenBIOS project is at http://www.freiburg.linux.de/openbios/ (I don't know whether this is the canonical home page, but that was what google took me to :)).

Then, add support for recognising the "break" signal with the Linux "serial on console port" option, and getting it to always bring it down to your OpenBIOS 'OpenBoot' prompt, if linux detected an OpenBIOS PROM. Assuming that that code never breaks :) then you have the same level support as the Suns.

It is important to note that whilst it seems to be like old faithful, the break signal/stop-a is maskable - run "kbd -a disable" on Solaris 2.x to see this! (I don't know whether this sets some hardware options, or whether it just turns off recognition of it). Enterprise Servers (250 - 10000) have a keyswitch with a "lock" position which does the same thing, which of course is a much better solution.

A word of caution, however - if you are using this in a data centre or equivalent, with a multiplexor or Network Terminal Server, if they fail, their dying gasps tend to look like "break" signals and bring all the connected servers to their OpenBoot prompts. Not good.

I recently attended a talk by some Academics who study Internet technologies - the talk was aimed at giving us a general knowledge of Internet routing leading up to IP telephony, but we received a lot of information on the topic :

Cable modems - Cable modems are great initially. If you're living in an area where not many people are using the cable modem service, then go for it. However, as more people subscribe to cable modem service, the service itself degrades, and you will get frustrated. This has to do with the way they are providing the service and the fact that you will be sharing a cable "channel" with many other subscribers. The only hope for cable modems in the future is for the cable companies to start adding more boosters throughout their network so you aren't sharing cable with so many other subscribers.

ADSL - There are 2 major pitfalls with ADSL - the first is that you need a second phone line brought into your house.. not too bad, but it causes a high installation cost. The second is that you need to be fairly close to your Central Office in order to actually use the service - the falloff rate for service is exponential as you move away from the CO. However, if you are close to the CO and don't mind getting the wiring done, I've heard that it is worth it.

new DSL - This was mentioned before, but Nortel Networks has come out with a new modem called the 1 Meg Modem. It is a great advantage over the ADSL modem, although in some cases, it can be a bit slower. It does not require a new line to your house.. your phone provider simply has to change the line card that your line goes into at the Central Office. I'd also probably assume that you need to be connected to a TelCo that uses Nortel switches (DMS).
It is also limited in distance from Telco, but it is not as bad as the ADSL modems. The dropoff is not as bad as you move out, and it has a larger radius to work with.

Anyway, I began this by mentioning that I was attending a talk by people who study Internet technologies, and there feeling was that the 1 meg modem technology will be the breakthrough for home Internet use.

As far as how far its usage has spread, I'm not sure - I know Bell Canada's Sympatico is offering it in some areas (Ottawa, for sure, since the modem was develloped there..), and I know some Universities have started using the technology to run their "dialup" connections. Anyway, you can read more about it at .

Good luck,
hairyA

I am ever glad I did not have to go through that horror to get my ADSL line hooked up. I live in Ottawa (and work for Nortel Networks which helps) so my only current choice for high speed access is Sympatico (Bell Canada's ISP). The use Nortel's 1 Meg Modem technology so as an employee all I have to pay is the installation fee and the $40/month for service and I get the modem for free. This service is a littel different in that it doesn't actaully require any changes to the wiring in my home, just a new card at the switch. I think it was about 10 days from the time I signed up to the time everything was set up and working. That is the advantage of having everything bundled in one company I guess. You can check out Nortel's 1 Meg Modem sit here and Sympatico's here .
You still have to be fairly close to the switch to be able to get the service and I don't know of any way to find out other than by phoning sympatico.

Good luck to everyone attempting to get ADSL. The bandwidth is worth it, I promise.

Funny, Nortel has been doing alot of investigation into this "implausible" technology. Really, this is old news. Not as fast as the article in question claims but very feasable.

Now how about something about broadband wireless networking...that would really be news.

Very clever, but no match for the giants - my votes: apple and sun, nortel (I like the globe-o) and the logo for the apple newton, which I can't find on the web right now. You know how apple is about obsolete products: like they never existed. Oh well, another good logo wasted.
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-neorosis

I was wondering if anyone can clear up a question I have on this very topic.

Can anyone claim a trademark on any term or phrase even if there is a registered trademark holder for the same term or phrase?

I noticed in an article/release about the new Dell dual Pentium III/Xeon's that Microsoft is claiming a trademark on "NT" (not Windows NT, just NT). I think everyone knows that Nortel owns the registered trademark for NT, it's on every Windows NT box! So, can I claim a trademark for NT, or Open Source, or whatever, also - even if it conflicts with a registered trademark owned by another entity?