Dear Mr. Behan:
I’m a network analyst and network architect with seven years of broadband engineering and public carrier experience (American market). I read the editorial “Ominous Numbers” (April 4) and would like to explain why I will soon become another statistic.
Despite all the rhetoric and brouhaha over Bell Canada’s ISDN “upgrades,” let’s get some facts straight:
•ISDN is considered “narrowband” service, not “broadband.” You’re comparing a Model T to a 2001 BMW 540i.
•ISDN was introduced in 1979 and is pathetically obsolete in comparison to modern broadband offerings. A critical concern is where do you purchase ISDN gear when everybody is making DSL and HFC gear?
•In this day and age, nobody would seriously consider the option of using ISDN for “high-speed data transfers.” A five-minute transfer on broadband would take six hours with ISDN.
•The “upgrade” actually dumbed-down the local switch as all call setup and teardown is now handled out of Thunder Bay (“Bell stuck on Eastern Time Zone” article). If anything should happen to the routing or the link, you wouldn’t be able to place a local call.
Better hope you don’t need an ambulance if this happens.
The primary reason I’m considering a move back to the United States is the complete impossibility of performing my consulting over Bell’s substandard telephone lines. Although the federal government has been whining about the “brain drain,” I really don’t see anything being done about it.
Some of Canada’s best talent has no choice but to live and work in the United States.
If 22-year-old technology is the best this area can hope for, I suspect others soon will have no choice but to leave as well.
Sincerely,
Jerry Korman
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
