Modem cards chop T-1 speeds in half >BY BETH SNYDER, Associate Editor-News

PairGain Technologies continued its single-pair, high-bit-rate digital subscriber line technology push last week with the introduction of a symmetrical network interface card.

While PairGain and other competitors have offered stand-alone, single-pair HDSL modems in the past, this is an industry first for a computer card. Dubbed the Megabit Modem 768 NIC, the 768 kb/s bidirectional bit rate card is compatible with Windows 95, Windows NT and Unix and will be available in December.

"They're repositioning a carrier infrastructure technology for customer premises use," said Kieran Taylor, broadband consultant for TeleChoice, Verona, N.J. "With the Windows compatibility, it's a clear play for the consumer market.

However, that doesn't mean the burgeoning asymmetrical digital subscriber line market will roll over and play dead. Single-pair HDSL will have to fight with ADSL and other local loop access technologies for market share. In the end, though, there will probably be a few winners in a variety of niches.

"HDSL, ADSL, VDSL, cable modems and all of those access products will eventually find a niche in terms of price and performance-what customers want to pay and what kind of performance they want," Taylor said.

PairGain agreed that its customers may require a variety of DSL technologies. For instance, symmetrical modems work better for people who need to send and receive large files, whereas asymmetrical bandwidth is better for those such as Internet users who only need to download large files.

PairGain said its Megabit modem can be plugged in and used easily, but where a customer lives may affect how easy the plug-and-play capability is. For the customer's modem to work, the local carrier must have a corresponding card in its central office. Several carriers such as U S West are aggressively pushing HDSL and can accommodate individual customers or Internet service providers quickly.