Gateways to the future

Intel and 2Wire supplied a peek into the possibilities of DSL last week during Supercomm in Atlanta by demonstrating gateways designed to let carriers provide revenue-enhancing services via their broadband offerings.

On the heels of its April agreement with EarthLink to offer its HomePortal residential home-networking products, 2Wire announced a similar deal with SBC Communications, the nation's largest DSL provider.

In its first foray into home networking, SBC will offer the home gateways — desktop devices that sit between a broadband modem and a PC that let users connect multiple PCs to a DSL line — to its 954,000 DSL customers in the Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell regions.

The deal is 2Wire's first major contract with a telco, although it has conducted a market trial with Verizon Communications.

“In Verizon's case, they sold it as an add-on to your phone bill,” said Roy Johnson, vice president of marketing and business development for 2Wire. “In SBC's case, it's more of a straight sell. For them it's the cost of entry to the home-networking business.”

The gateways, which use existing phone wires to create local area networks via the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance standard, are the first step in offering a bundled package of services that include security monitoring, telemetry and device control. Eventually, the gateways will be able to connect devices such as personal digital assistants, stereos and mobile phones. 2Wire also has begun rolling out a gateway that connects different devices through wireless links.

From an operations perspective, customers calling SBC for DSL service will be asked if they have multiple PCs and whether they would like to connect all of them to the high-speed access line. A positive answer will route them to a home-networking specialist, who can sell one of two 2Wire devices.

“They have a specialized group now just for home networking,” Johnson said. “They work through the whole line-provisioning process, and once they've determined that the person can be served they'll ship a self-install kit.”

Intel officials said self-install kits will not be needed with its newest gateway, the AnyPoint DSL Gateway 4200. The customer-premises device features an ADSL modem, universal plug and play and software that automatically configures basic Internet access remotely from the DSL access multiplexer.

Built on the ILMI protocol recently approved by the DSL Forum, the Intel gateway's self-install technology executes DSL deployment models preset by the service provider via Web-based installation wizards. This installation package is designed to let service providers accelerate DSL deployment, reduce installation-related technical-support calls and virtually eliminate the need for expensive configuration-related truck rolls.

The Intel gateway eventually can be offered as an off-the-shelf product, like a narrowband modem, according to Marc Abrams, product manager of broadband access operation for Intel. Within two to five years, Abrams envisions users buying the gateway in a store, plugging it into a PC and choosing a DSL provider from a menu in the self-install process.

“Service providers don't want to be in the CPE business, they want to provide services,” Abrams said. “What this does is show that retail DSL is possible.”

The gateway also offers carriers value beyond installation savings. Two open expansion slots in the device allow carriers to customize the hardware according to the user's needs for advanced services. And, with permission from the user, service providers can access the user's computer, enabling remote troubleshooting and deployment of advanced services without a truck roll.

In addition to enabling services such as wireless networking and voice over DSL, the Intel gateway includes a self-configuring firewall at the point of the network that officials say eliminates the need for personal firewall software.

Currently in trials, the AnyPoint Gateway 4200 will ship this summer, according to Intel officials.