Advantages of 56K

• Introduction

• Speed

• Cost

• Availability

• The cardboard box factor

Availability

There are other high speed technologies on the market, but none is as widely available as 56K. 56K is available practically everywhere in the U.S. 56K has the potential to be available everywhere phone lines are available.

ISDN still isn't available in all areas of the country. Even when the telco offers ISDN, you have to be within 18000 cable feet of the nearest ISDN switch to have access.

ADSL, with less availability, has a limit of 18000 from the phone company central office (12000 feet for maximum speed). Even worse, ADSL usually requires co-location of equipment in the local telephone company's offices, which may lead to virtual monopolies on ADSL from the phone company's own Internet service division.

Cable Internet access is limited to less than 1% of the U.S. market right now, simply because few cable companies have the infrastructure to offer it. However, that number could grow dramatically in the next two years.