Letter To the Editor of CACM (September 1999)

Robert A. Ellis
Myles Losch

As Chair and Member, respectively, of SIGGRAPH?s Public Policy Committee, we read with interest the article by Scott Tilley (The Need for Speed, CACM, July 1999, pp. 23-26). Because the use of graphics and graphical user interfaces requires high bandwidth Internet connections, our committee has decided to focus on this issue.

Mr. Tilley correctly identifies the need and presents a reasonable introductory overview of the subject, although we probably would not have included 56Kbps modems. Instead we would have included satellite and terrestrial wireless as other high speed communications alternatives. Our version of such a survey appeared in a recent issue of SIGGRAPH?s quarterly member publication, ?Computer Graphics? (?Last-Mile? Bandwidth Recap and Committee Survey Activity, ?Computer Graphics?, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 49-53, May 1999). The article is also available on-line on the SIGGRAPH website (http://www.siggraph.org/pub-policy/CGColumn-0599.html).

We are concerned, however, that Mr. Tilley did not discuss a number of critical technical and public policy issues in his article. For example, DSL has serious limitations on the distance between subscriber and central office. Most cable modems are non-standard (new standard ones having come late to market), and the service is a shared resource which means performance may deteriorate drastically as more users in Mr. Tilley?s neighborhood sign up. Both of these technologies also have critical security problems due to their ?always on? nature with a permanent IP address. And Windows users of either technology might be surprised to find that their neighbors can easily access their files and even their printers unless certain parameters are set appropriately.

In addition, there are numerous policy issues which may influence prospective customers decisions. Cable modem customers have no choice of ISP and must use the ISP designated by their cable company. Note also that cable operators are not common carriers like the phone companies, and customers may find the content of their Internet transmissions monitored and perhaps censored by the cable operator and its captive ISP. DSL policy issues include reasonable tariffing, openness of telcos' copper loops to independent DSL providers, and (for single-line homes) loop-sharing between a voice service provider and an unrelated data service provider, who use different frequencies on the same wire.

Wireless broadband users in apartments and condominiums, despite recent legislation favoring them, remain limited in where they may mount outdoor antennas. Cellular and PCS providers are held back from offering broadband service in part by regulators' reluctance to impose uniform technical standards. (And as for fiber carriers, their non-conducting 'wires' clash with rules that they must power users' telephones, even when commercial utility power isn't available.) While use-oriented experience reports can be helpful, the examples above hint at the complexity of a subject that deserves fuller treatment by a magazine with CACM's informed readership.