The Asymmetric Last Mile Problem/Opportunity:

Competing Last Mile Technologies:

In the beginning there were telephone modems ^reference

Timeline

• 300 bps - 1960s through 1983 or so
• 1200 bps - Gained popularity in 1984 and 1985
• 2400 bps
• 9600 bps - First appeared in late 1990 and early 1991
• 19.2 kilobits per second (Kbps)
• 28.8 Kbps
• 33.6 Kbps
• 56 Kbps - Became the standard in 1998

Then there came ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) -- a system of digital phone connections (~1988)

See our discussion of N-ISDN

Key event:In 1991, the FCC issued its "Video Dialtone" ruling allowing the local telephone companies to distribute video signals over their networks.  This opportunity motivated plans for different forms of local network upgrades. Several local telephone companies announced plans to completely rebuild their networks according to a Hybrid Fiber and Coax architecture.

Now there is fierce completion between providers.

See our discussion of xDSL

See our discussion of CATV

See our discussion of DBS

References:

Technical Foundations of Residential Broadband from Cisco Press

Sharon Eisner Gillet,  Connecting Homes to the Internet: An Engineering Cost Model of Cable vs. ISDN

Hybrid/Fiber Coax (HFC) and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Networks (pdf)

DSL and Cable Modem Networks

High Data Rate [HDR] Over Satellite Links