Verizon DSL vs Comcast Cable

[Rich Braun]

Jerry Feldman wrote:
> In Newton, we were one of the first communities to get cable modem
> service from Contiental Cablevision.

I live in Cambridge, where Continental Cable did its first pilot demonstration
in 1993.

Someone else wrote:
> Contiental Cablevision?  I haven't ever heard of them.  How much do they
> charge?

Continental was run by a local businessman named Amos Hostetter.  It was first
merged into some other Denver-based company which renamed it to MediaOne. 
(During that period, RCN rolled out its service, and I signed on with RCN when
I lived in Somerville--it was horrible because of severe technical flaws in
the pre-DOCSIS technology created by Hybrid.  In between ISDN and RCN, I used
a terrific 27-megabit service rolled out by CAI Wireless.  You can drive
through Davis Square along Cutter Ave and still see the chimney-mount antenna
I put up to receive that in 1997.)

MediaOne got bought out by AT&T which then sold out to Comcast.

Continental's pilot demo was done via PSI Internet, and I think they connected
a sum total of 4 customers in 1994 before going back to the drawing board. 
The demo CPE hardware consisted of two boxes the size of stereo components,
and cost over $3000 per site.  DOCSIS deployment started in 1996 or so, and
quickly spread around MediaOne's service area.  MediaOne used some other
backbone provider besides PSI Internet for that deployment, and was among the
early partners in east coast exchange points.

-rich