Lawrence Lessig/blog/2002/11/13/0949/5

responds to::Lawrence Lessig/blog/2002/11/13/0949 when posted::January 16, 2003 1:51 AM author::Andy Freeman Bad customer service recently prompted me to look at DSL modems and what I found surprised me. It looks like the cheap consumer-grade DSL modems already support 8Mbps.

I'd be surprised if the CLECs and ILECs all bought their DSLAMs 5 years ago; I'll bet that many COs have equipment that supports more than the 1.5M/128k combo that is typical in the US.

In other words, DSL is already where it took Ethernet years to get - the slow stuff isn't cheaper and will soon become unavailable. (Try to find a 10Mbps-only interface for a PC. The 10/100 cards are $10 and most new PCs come with that built-in.)

Yes, there may not be enough (day-time peak) bandwidth from the CO on, but we're already to the point where bandwidth is limited more by biz-model fiction than by technology.

BTW - One tiny ISP, Cyberonic, is reselling WorldCom's 1.5/768 service for $50/month (or $40 with a long-term contract), complete with a static IP.