"Really Fast Internet/IntraNet Access,@Home, @School," Lu Cordova, @Home
Network,  June 11, 1996

Ms. Cordova provided a dazzling display of cable modem technology.  The
speed of the cable modem far exceeds  many network technologies today. For
example, the time required to download a two-megabyte file such as a
Mission Impossible video clip now available from Paramount Studios is the
following: 18.5 minutes on a 14.4 modem; 9.3 minutes on a 28.8 modem;  2.1
minutes on an ISDN line, 26.7 seconds on a 4x CD-ROM; 10.7 seconds on a T1
communications line; and only 1.6 seconds on a cable modem. Under these
conditions, the cable modem is 350 times faster than a 28.8 modem and 740
times faster than a 14.4 modem. It is even 6.6 times faster than a T1 line
that is hooked up to many corporate networks to deliver business
information.

Ms. Cordova pointed out that there are 50,000 commercial sites on the world
wide web, up from 23,000 sites last year. Commercial sites are ramping up
at an annual 1,116 percent per year. There are an estimated 40 million
Internet users. Some 5.8 million Americans use the Internet daily. There is
a need for faster connection to the web. In a recent survey, 69.1% of users
say, "It's too slow."

@Home is a joint venture of TCI and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer.
Comcast and Cox are new partners. They provide exclusive distribution to
40% of all households passed in the United States. The @Home Networks links
homes, schools, and businesses to the global internet through very high
speed access.  UNK, a consultancy, estimates that there are almost 48
million potential customers for working at home. The largest group, the
self-employed, are about 28.8 million persons in 1996. This group will
expand by 11.6 percent to the year 2000. People working at home after-work
and people working at home as telecommuters will also grow by 8.9% and
11.3% respectively to the end of this decade. If these growth rates
continue, there will be about 70 million people working at home by the year
2000.

The cable modem technology HFC (hybrid fiberoptic coaxial) will be used
primarily between a central location (headend) and the home; a high speed
transport to work; and a segmented CATV to schools. The cable modem is
competitively priced. For example, the monthly price for a representative
phone modem ranges from $10 to $30 plus $2 to $3 per extra hour. An ISDN
line costs $21 to $184 plus usage fees; a corporate T1 line runs between
$300 to $1000 a month. The cable modem prices are likely to be in the $30
to $50 per month range.  They will have no installation or equipment fee.
Most of the other technologies are expensive to install ($1000 for a T1
line) or to buy the equipment (up to $650 for ISDN or $2000 for a T1 line).