Goodbye

One hint as to the early stages of these markets is that as of late 2001, early 2002, a bit of consolidation is occurring in the cable Internet world. Excite@Home exited the cable Internet business and its customers are picked up by AT&T and other carriers. This has caused a bit of commotion, as thousands of users found themselves temporarily without Internet access while they were between carriers. Situations like this are not unheard of in the DSL world, either. In the past year, one major nationwide player (Covad) went away, and others, like Qwest, are getting out of the DSL ISP business and sending their customers to other providers.

Alternatives vie against DSL and Cable

In addition to DSL and Cable Internet connectivity, other higher-speed technologies are beginning to enjoy popularity.

Satellite TV companies are providing Satellite Internet access. Any location that has line-of-sight to the satellite can use this technology, thus making it available to many users who don’t have DSL or cable modem access. A downside to satellite Internet connectivity is the 2-second lag in transmission between the Internet and the client PC, as the signal is bounced up to the satellite and back to earth.

Wireless networking often provides speeds as fast as, or faster than, cable Internet or DSL. Some metropolitan areas have begun public, or semi-public wireless networking efforts, sharing a high-capacity Internet line with a neighborhood or region by placing Wireless Access Points and antennas around where those with 802.11 cards in their notebooks and PDA’s can access the Internet at “LAN speeds”.