DSL Forum takes case to consumer electronics leaders

(Telephony) The DSL Forum is taking its case to the consuming public – or at least to the people who feed the consumers – this week.

The organization is using this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to make its case to a non-technical, non-industry-specific audience.

"We're showing what's happening to the industry as a whole and getting people to understand that DSL can really change their lives and how they enjoy entertainment, how they do their research, how they're educated," said DSL Forum marketing director Laurie Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said CES gives the Forum a space to reinforce the "any-to-any interoperability" message it first delivered at last year's SuperComm in Atlanta, Gonzalez admitted.

"At our last exhibit, having people be able to walk up to the patch panel and pick the modem and have it connected to whichever DSLAM was interesting, particularly for the tech industry, but for the general consumer there was no real takeaway," she said. "I think it's exciting that we're able to have a real takeaway where people can walk away and say 'Wow, that's something that I really do want at home.'"

It's especially important as the cable industry – and cable modems – make broadband provider of choice inroads.

"With the cable modem industry there are some points of saturation that are going to be hit pretty soon," Gonzalez said. "Their ability to respond very quickly to upgrade their plant is a big question."

There is, on the other hand, "a very strong preference for DSL," she insisted. This week's exhibit is intended to fuel that preference and show that DSL is real. The Forum hopes to clear some technical hurtles when it recommends DSL interoperability standards at its March meeting in Vancouver. The CES exhibit should help clear consumer perception hurdles.

"Right now there are over 2 million DSL customers in North America. We're supposed to be approaching 7 million in Asia. For 2002 the theme is going to be DSL as the global solution," she said.

That solution will have a ready market, she added.

"People are moving beyond just wanting a fast Internet connection. If you don't start building on the vertical markets and the applications, you're lost. That's what we're showing here. We're ready for the future, making the right partnerships and making sure that DSL is positioning itself to be the best vehicle to make use of these applications that are coming down the line that need high-speed."