Hello Chris,

Quoting Chris Mc Mahon from a previous message:

 CMM> There are also reports that recent testing of cable modems in the US
 CMM> showed that instead of 10Mbps or even 512Kbps, actual speeds were
 CMM> "approx 2 or 3 times a 14.4Kps modem".

Yes, you would expect some serious teething problems with state of 
the art technology.
I am old enough to remember the first fax transmissions. No, I did not 
think that the technology would ever catch. Back then I used to regard 
the position of my telex machine as rock solid safe.

 CMM> Anyway I have a few questions. Is this 10Mbps stuff a figure for one
 CMM> user on one cable? Would two users get 10Mbps each or get 5Mbps?
 CMM> What is the total bandwith of a single cable ? Could it support 1,000
 CMM> concurrent users ( 10 Billion bits per second ? )

The bandwidth of an optical fibre cable is far bigger than 10Mbps.
Many overseas Pay-TV companies offer hundreds of channels.
A broadcast quality channel takes up 384 Kbps. A cable supporting, 
say, 500 channels requires a 200 Mbps bandwidth. The cable itself is 
probably thinner than a human hair.
I don't know about 10 Billion bits per second, though. You would 
probably need a cable TWICE as thick as a human hair :)

 CMM> Could you dial, or is it like a leased line only to one service
 CMM> provider ? And if so could the service provider handle 10 Bbps ?


I presume that you will have initially a leased line to one service 
provider, with dialling facilities to follow.
The telephone service started in the same way, didn't it?
You lifted the handset and were connected to the switchboard (the 
service provider of the 19th century). The operator would then put you 
through to your intended destination.
Yes, the service provider will handle 10 Bps, so long as it is 
economically viable for it to do so. I.e.: so long as the number of 
potential customers exceeds the critical mass, as the market analysts 
call it.

Regards

Enzo

P.S.: for your benefit, if you were born after 1970:

A telex machine was a diabolic contraption, designed to transmit 
characters through a telephone line. Its repertoire consisted of
10 numeric digits, 26 upper case letters, and nothing else.

The typical telex message, circa 1972, was something like this:-

THE PACK OF PUNCHED CARDS WAS POSTED LAST WEEK STOP
HAVE YOU RECEIVED IT YET QUESTION MARK

I won't go into what a punched card was.
But if you happen to mention the word "modem", a few years down 
the track, make sure that you explain what it was.

--- Maximus 3.01