What a blast from the past, DSL was an exciting technology.
I did the config and networking of DSLAMs for the first private test installs of Paradyne (Hotwire) DSL hardware in a western state around ~1998-1999, a couple years before DSL really hit the mainstream.
The telecos were slow to move on the technology and didn't do their own centralized rollouts until several years later. We took full advantage of that lead time time to win away a lot of ISDN customers with much lower prices and much faster service. We also saw end of that advantage coming and got out of the business before we had to compete directly with the telecos who could operate at scale and do bundled pricing of the line + service that was harder to compete with. At the time high speed internet over cable was also a while off for the general public.
We also had a tip from a teleco employee that we could use DC Signalling channels / dry copper pairs instead of regular phone circuits (no dial tone, they were meant for alarm service). They cost about 1/2 to 1/3 of the price.
At one point we petitioned to get the local telco to dig up the sidewalk and install several hundred more copper pairs into the building.
It was really interesting to watch the internet access landscape change so quickly.
I did the config and networking of DSLAMs for the first private test installs of Paradyne (Hotwire) DSL hardware in a western state around ~1998-1999, a couple years before DSL really hit the mainstream.
The telecos were slow to move on the technology and didn't do their own centralized rollouts until several years later. We took full advantage of that lead time time to win away a lot of ISDN customers with much lower prices and much faster service. We also saw end of that advantage coming and got out of the business before we had to compete directly with the telecos who could operate at scale and do bundled pricing of the line + service that was harder to compete with. At the time high speed internet over cable was also a while off for the general public.
We also had a tip from a teleco employee that we could use DC Signalling channels / dry copper pairs instead of regular phone circuits (no dial tone, they were meant for alarm service). They cost about 1/2 to 1/3 of the price.
At one point we petitioned to get the local telco to dig up the sidewalk and install several hundred more copper pairs into the building.
It was really interesting to watch the internet access landscape change so quickly.