DSL is short for 'Digital Subscriber Line.' This technology began to emerge in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s, due to the demand for high-speed data transmission technology from cable television and network communications, DSL technology gradually matured.
Simply put, DSL is a technology that transmits data over traditional telephone lines using higher data frequencies.
The biggest advantage of DSL technology is that it breaks through the traditional voice communication's low-frequency analog signal's maximum data transmission limit of 56kb/s.
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) translates to 'Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line,' and it is a type of DSL technology.
With standard DSL technology, the user's upload and download speeds should be symmetrical. However, in practical applications, the data downloaded by users often far exceeds the data uploaded. If the transmission speeds remain symmetrical, it would lead to a significant waste of resources, and ADSL technology precisely solves this problem.
Compared to DSL technology, using ADSL can more than double the user capacity of a communication network.
In recent years, America Online's internet access services primarily consisted of the most traditional dial-up internet technology and the more advanced ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) technology. The former's maximum internet speed could only reach 56kb/s, while the latter, also a data transmission technology that emerged in the 1980s, could double the speed of traditional dial-up internet to 128kb/s.
The difference between DSL technology and the former two is roughly analogous to the difference between analog and digital signals that are rapidly being updated in the mobile communication field.
Four years ago, when Westeros Company first invested in Quantum-Link, America Online's predecessor, Simon used his status as a major shareholder to demand that Steve Case acquire relevant patent licenses for DSL technology and invest in subsequent technological research and development.
ADSL is the new generation of digital subscriber line standard developed by America Online based on DSL.
In Simon's memory, for a long time, ADSL was almost synonymous with broadband, although these are actually two different concepts.
However, this is enough to prove the widespread adoption of ADSL technology.
Compared to the original timeline, ADSL appeared at least five years earlier.
In fact, much like many other technologies such as the internet, semiconductors, and digital cameras, ADSL appearing several years earlier, after DSL had already been developing for over a decade, simply required an opportunity to drive technological development—or, more accurately, a business opportunity that could bring profits to enterprises. Therefore, there were no technical obstacles.
It's like how humanity completed its first moon landing in 1969.
If every space program could bring commercial returns several or even dozens of times its investment, humanity might have already colonized Mars by now.
In the original timeline, the explosion of the internet industry at the end of the 20th century was essentially chaotic and disorganized.
Everyone knew there were huge business opportunities, but they didn't understand which path to take to find the treasure. This was actually the root cause why most new tech giants in the Internet 1.0 era couldn't sustain their dominance.
Because they didn't know which way to go.
In Simon's mind, however, there was a complete treasure map.
Compared to the historical process where major internet service providers in the past explored and wasted time on different technologies before finally settling on ADSL as the standard for high-speed internet transmission, Simon this time bypassed all potentially futile attempts and went straight for the choice that had already been proven to be the best in his memory.
The former America Online, around 2000, collapsed from a super giant with a market value of nearly $200 billion in just a few years. A large part of this was due to the company abandoning its fundamental role as an internet service provider and instead leaning towards becoming an internet media company, leading to its acquisition of Time Warner, a traditional content company.
Thus, during the critical period of transition from dial-up and ISDN technology to ADSL, America Online was focused on content, failing to realize that in the internet era of exponentially exploding information, unlike traditional Hollywood studios or major television networks, a pure internet media company simply could not satisfy the diverse content needs of hundreds of millions of internet users.
At the same time, by choosing the wrong path, America Online handed over its lifeblood, the ISP business, to traditional telecom operators who, though slow to react, had not forgotten their core business. Ultimately, under the dual waves of the dot-com bubble burst and technological upgrades, an internet company that could have become a super ISP giant vanished in a flash.
This time, Simon firmly locked onto America Online's ISP attribute from the very beginning.
Over the past few years, America Online has been investing as many resources as possible into building its own backbone fiber optic network and other infrastructure to avoid the awkward situation of having to lease lines from traditional telecom operators.
Currently, America Online's network infrastructure within its own business areas on the East and West Coasts is already very complete, and it has even completed the laying of a dedicated backbone fiber optic cable connecting the East and West Coasts of the United States. At the same time, America Online has also been conducting small-scale tests of the continuously developing ADSL technology.
With the preliminary preparations complete and the number of internet users in the United States reaching a considerable level, it was time for a technological upgrade.
Before this, if it weren't for the exclusive agreement signed earlier, even if America Online had completed the laying of its main lines, traditional telecom operators, relying on their century-long accumulation in infrastructure, would still have a very high chance of replacing America Online's market position.
However, once the transition from traditional dial-up internet to ADSL is completed, America Online will possess an unparalleled advantage in the ISP field.
Because although it still relies on telephone lines for data transmission, ADSL is already a completely different data transmission model compared to traditional dial-up internet. Both parties require entirely different equipment to support the connection from the ISP to the user terminal, thus necessitating significant capital investment for network upgrades. Of course, this also inevitably involves time costs.
Any company that surpasses its competitors in terms of time and technology, as long as it doesn't lose its direction, can easily maintain this advantage.
Over the next year, America Online plans to invest a massive $1.5 billion to upgrade its service network.
This enormous plan, involving a $1.5 billion investment and a massive gamble on ADSL technology, was seen by those who couldn't foresee the future as almost a desperate, all-or-nothing move.
Because unlike later generations who equated ADSL technology with broadband, in this era, there were other technologies available.
Many senior executives and board members at America Online were more inclined to further upgrade the ISDN technology, which was based on dial-up internet, in order to improve America Online's overall network service speed.
Upgrading on the basis of existing technology not only significantly reduces costs but also minimizes the risk of taking the wrong path.
It's important to remember that once ADSL technology is rolled out and doesn't perform as well as expected, America Online would not only lose the $1.5 billion investment, but it could even drag the entire company into an abyss.
Just like the mistakes America Online made in its fundamental corporate development path in the original timeline.
Therefore, this plan was ultimately a result of Simon leveraging Westeros Company's absolute controlling stake in America Online to push it through forcefully.
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On January 20th, Simon spent the day in New York attending America Online's executive meeting, only flying to Washington in the afternoon.
On the same day, Bill Clinton officially took over the White House from George H.W. Bush. The inauguration ceremony lasted until the evening, with a grand celebration also held in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Simon didn't go to the celebration to join the crowd; instead, he met several members of the Clinton cabinet at a reception in another part of the city.
He still did not directly contact Clinton himself.
However, Simon also obtained the information he wanted that evening.
Clinton's promised visit to Silicon Valley has been confirmed for early March, and in the same month, the U.S. Congress will hold a final vote on the "Information Superhighway Project." After the recent change of administration, both the Senate and the House are in Democratic hands, so the possibility of an unexpected outcome in this vote is small.
Therefore, compared to Simon's memory of September 1993, the launch of the Information Superhighway Project in this timeline will be half a year earlier.
Although it was only half a year, Simon clearly understood how powerful a boost this national-level plan would provide to the entire internet industry.
Most intuitively, the "Information Superhighway Project" would certainly come with tax breaks and subsidies for new technology companies. Even if Westeros System's tech companies weren't short on cash, it would be enough to make their capital chains even more liquid. At the same time, this plan would also further encourage capital flow into the new technology sector, driving the continuous explosion of the internet industry.
After the inauguration of the new U.S. President, America Online's ADSL upgrade plan was also unveiled.
Prior to this, due to internal disagreements within America Online regarding this plan, keen-nosed media had already begun to scrutinize the matter.
With the official announcement of the upgrade plan involving a $1.5 billion investment, it immediately sparked another wave of heated discussion in the media.
After completing the ADSL plan, America Online can easily break through the existing internet speed limitations based on dial-up technology, providing users with network speeds of 256kb/s or more.
256kb/s is equivalent to a data download speed of 32k per second.
At this stage, most standalone games in the Ygritte Software Store are only about 1MB in size. With the previous 56kb/s or 128kb/s internet speeds, it would take users several minutes to download a game after purchase. Once the ADSL upgrade is completed, users can download the same games or software in basically under a minute.
At the same time, after the technological upgrade, technologies such as web animation and audio developed by Ygritte Company can also be more widely applied, thereby further enriching the content of the internet platform.
The further enrichment of internet content, in turn, can increase the network's appeal to the public, and thereby promote the development of the entire industry.
Overall, this is a very good virtuous cycle.
Of course, for the next few years, it will mainly be a virtuous cycle within America Online's operating regions.
Moreover, after the ADSL technology upgrade, if traditional operators remain slow to react, America Online will no longer confine itself to its own business areas. The management has even pre-drafted plans for expansion into the Great Lakes region.
However, the outside world clearly couldn't see this potential virtuous cycle.
Instead, many media outlets were criticizing America Online's overly aggressive expansion strategy.
During the industry boom of the previous two years, America Online had been operating at a loss. Now, having just completed its layout in major regions on the East and West Coasts, according to a company's normal operating logic, it should at least slow down for a few years, recoup the enormous previous investments through the existing technical network, and then consider upgrading.
Having just completed the layout of the basic line network, and without having recovered much capital, to rush into an upgrade, and moreover, to an unproven technology, was truly somewhat blind.
Therefore, on January 21st, the day the news was announced, America Online's stock price fell by 3.1%.
The subsequent response from the Westeros system was somewhat unexpected.
And it was also very simple.
A simple and brutal increase in holdings.
After the market closed on Friday, January 22nd, Westeros Company submitted a filing for increased holdings with the SEC. In just two days, America Online's stock price had fallen by 5.3%, and Westeros Company, without anyone realizing it, increased its stake in America Online from 65.4%, a percentage that had barely changed since the IPO, to 66.1%.
In the past year, the number of World Wide Web users in the United States, according to statistics, reached 28.67 million, of which 17.32 million belonged to America Online.
Compared to the end of 1991, with a total user base of 13.17 million and America Online having 7.68 million users, both figures showed a growth of over 100%.
Leaving aside the overall picture, America Online alone, in the past year, had an estimated preliminary revenue of $3.8 billion. Although the full-year financial report was still projected to show a loss, due to the rapid growth in users and revenue, its market value still reached a high of $18.6 billion on January 20th.
Therefore, although Westeros Company's increased stake was only 0.5%, it still invested approximately $80 million in just two days.
At a press conference on Saturday, Westeros Company President James Rebould also stated that the Westeros system was very optimistic about America Online's development prospects and would invest more capital to buy shares in the company if necessary.
With $80 million invested in a flash, beyond the fleeting glimpse of Westeros Company's powerful capital strength, the capital market also came to its senses.
America Online's rapid growth over the past few years was evident to all. Moreover, considering that the company's operating area was still limited to the East and West Coast states, there was still huge room for performance growth. To hastily abandon holding shares in this company simply because of public skepticism about America Online's ADSL plan seemed very unwise.
It wasn't the first time the media had made misleading judgments.
In comparison, Simon Westeros had already created too many business miracles.
Thus, when the weekend passed and a new week began, on Monday alone, America Online's stock price rebounded to its January 20th level, and its market value even showed a subtle trend of breaking the $20 billion mark.