New TPSA service promises to offer faster, easier Internet access
SDI is coming to Poland, sooner or later.
This is not the "Star Wars Defense Initiative," but rather "Szybki Dostep do Internetu," or Fast Internet Access. It's the first initiative of Telekomunikacja Polska's (TPSA) net arm, which still goes by the name they said was temporary four months ago, TP Internet, and will be part of a $500,000 investment to develop electronic and internet services, according to market analysts.
TPSA's new SDI service will significantly speed up on-line access and operations and will be carried over existing lines, thus making it widely and easily accessible with only a modem necessary to plug into the network.
But fast and convenient as the service promises to be, its roll out, in true to parental TPSA form, is late. Among the launch targets were Oct. 15, then Nov. 29, and more recently TPSA has declared "sometime in December" as its deadline.
Once up and running, the service will provide 24/7 connectivity at 115 kilobits/second, using Ericsson's HIS technology. That's faster than the 56 kilobits/second that most modems allow, and several times faster than surfers usually get over Polish phone lines.
Thus, instead of waiting minutes or more to access and operate programs, SDI will speed action to a matter of seconds. Serious bandwidth junkies, however, who want microsecond action, will have to wait for the cable or wireless solutions to be offered soon by United Pan-European Communications (UPC), Aster City or Formus. These hold out the possibility of download speeds between 300 kilobits and 1,000 kilobits, or 1 megabyte.
"It's not broadband, but it's fast," said Jaroslaw Mroczkowski, a product manager at Ericsson Poland responsible for the HIS technology. HIS, Home Internet Solution, is something Ericsson designed specifically for markets like Poland, "where there are not a lot of other solutions," he said. "It's extremely cheap compared to other solutions."
The service will cost zl. 1,000 to install plus zl. 160 in monthly fees, said Piotr Zabadeusz, a TPSA spokesman. That's less expensive than the comparable wireless service by Formus, which costs zl. 1,200 to install a 128 kilobit connection, and zl. 1,100 in monthly fees, and only available in Warsaw, said Robert Sowinski, Formus marketing specialist.
The technology behind TPSA's service is a digital subscriber line, or DSL, which uses existing copper wires to transfer the data, rather than cable, the way Aster City and UPC plan, or the wireless solution used by Formus.
This is the first time a DSL solution is being tried in Poland. Ericsson is shopping it around to other internet service providers (ISPs). Neither Ericsson nor TPSA would say how much it costs for the operator to install the HIS technology. On the consumer end, all it requires is a five-minute installation of a new DSL modem.
And unlike cable or wireless solutions, TPSA will make its SDI service available anywhere in the country, whereas cable and wireless will only be offered in very limited areas.
This is not the "Star Wars Defense Initiative," but rather "Szybki Dostep do Internetu," or Fast Internet Access. It's the first initiative of Telekomunikacja Polska's (TPSA) net arm, which still goes by the name they said was temporary four months ago, TP Internet, and will be part of a $500,000 investment to develop electronic and internet services, according to market analysts.
TPSA's new SDI service will significantly speed up on-line access and operations and will be carried over existing lines, thus making it widely and easily accessible with only a modem necessary to plug into the network.
But fast and convenient as the service promises to be, its roll out, in true to parental TPSA form, is late. Among the launch targets were Oct. 15, then Nov. 29, and more recently TPSA has declared "sometime in December" as its deadline.
Once up and running, the service will provide 24/7 connectivity at 115 kilobits/second, using Ericsson's HIS technology. That's faster than the 56 kilobits/second that most modems allow, and several times faster than surfers usually get over Polish phone lines.
Thus, instead of waiting minutes or more to access and operate programs, SDI will speed action to a matter of seconds. Serious bandwidth junkies, however, who want microsecond action, will have to wait for the cable or wireless solutions to be offered soon by United Pan-European Communications (UPC), Aster City or Formus. These hold out the possibility of download speeds between 300 kilobits and 1,000 kilobits, or 1 megabyte.
"It's not broadband, but it's fast," said Jaroslaw Mroczkowski, a product manager at Ericsson Poland responsible for the HIS technology. HIS, Home Internet Solution, is something Ericsson designed specifically for markets like Poland, "where there are not a lot of other solutions," he said. "It's extremely cheap compared to other solutions."
The service will cost zl. 1,000 to install plus zl. 160 in monthly fees, said Piotr Zabadeusz, a TPSA spokesman. That's less expensive than the comparable wireless service by Formus, which costs zl. 1,200 to install a 128 kilobit connection, and zl. 1,100 in monthly fees, and only available in Warsaw, said Robert Sowinski, Formus marketing specialist.
The technology behind TPSA's service is a digital subscriber line, or DSL, which uses existing copper wires to transfer the data, rather than cable, the way Aster City and UPC plan, or the wireless solution used by Formus.
This is the first time a DSL solution is being tried in Poland. Ericsson is shopping it around to other internet service providers (ISPs). Neither Ericsson nor TPSA would say how much it costs for the operator to install the HIS technology. On the consumer end, all it requires is a five-minute installation of a new DSL modem.
And unlike cable or wireless solutions, TPSA will make its SDI service available anywhere in the country, whereas cable and wireless will only be offered in very limited areas.
