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megabits/second of transmission capability, or 5 megabits/second
per peak user. Again, this number can be multiplied through
segmentation as outlined above.
It is possible to push these numbers significantly further. If
very high speed, truly symmetrical capacity is required,
frequencies above 1 Ghz can be used. The cut-off frequency of the
coaxial cable employed is close to 2 Ghz, allowing for very
significant expansion of capacity for high speed symmetrical
services.
5. Please project the capital investment you or your industry
plan to make on a per home-passed basis to install broadband
infrastructure, and on a per subscriber basis to install specific
services.
Our experience to date indicates that an investment of between
$125 and $135 per home passed is required to upgrade existing
coaxial cable television plan to the hybrid fiber/coax architecture
referenced earlier.
Assuming a 15 percent penetration rate, we expect the
incremental costs per customer moving into telephony to be no more
than $1,000 per customer. This investment is largely variable in
nature, is made incrementally as telephony customers are added.
It is estimated that PC modem services will cost between $400
and $600 per customer, again, incrementally against only those
customers taking the service. This covers the cost of the PC modem,
as well as central routers, servers, gateways, and support
systems.
It is estimated that interactive multimedia servers will cost
between $700 and $800 per incremental subscriber, again accounting
for terminal equipment in the home as well as switches, servers,
and associated central investments.
6. Please respond to the concerns raised in Vice President
Gore's letter (copy of letter attached) regarding the ability of
users of your network to original content for delivery to any or
all other users, versus the control of all content by the network
operator.
The concerns outlined by Vice President Gore are largely
addressed in our original paper. We expect to support several
different coexisting networks on our broadband transmission system.
These range from regulated common carrier-type symmetrical
telecommunications services, like telephony, to highly experimental
asymmetrical interactive entertainment services. In the middle
ground will be a PC network, with great capacity. This network will
be as symmetrical as it needs to be, given marketplace demand. As
outlined above, we have the ability to expand network capacity in
pursuit of the amount of symmetry that makes sense. However,
premature installation of capacity and symmetry, in advance of
demand, will be prohibitively expensive and, we believe, will not
be supported by private investment.
7. Please specifically enumerate the actions which you or your
industry believe that the federal government should take to
encourage and accelerate the widespread availability of a
competitive digital information infrastructure in this country.
We specifically address these points in our paper. To reiterate,
they are:
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The elimination of historic state and local
barriers to competition in telecommunications;
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The creation of requirements for interconnection,
access, compensation, unbundling, collocation, pole and conduit
sharing, and number portability and dialing parity by the incumbent
telephony monopoly;
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The prevention of interference by local authority
in the growth of competing telecommunications services; and
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The recognition that to enhance telephone
competition, debilitating cable rate regulation must be
reformed.
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Note
1. All projections (unless noted) are the
estimates of the authors and do not represent an official position
of the National Cable Television Association or Time Warner
Cable.
