On Mon, Jun 28, 2004 at 08:47:24AM -0400, Alan Porter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > What you are talking about is simply a codec. > > It's funny, the cellular companies do the same thing. At least, the GSM > providers (Cingular, AT&T Wireless) do for "circuit switched data" calls. > > You buy an all-digital phone, and you hook it to your PC to surf the net. > You would think that you've got an end-to-end digital connection. > > However, your ISP doesn't know anything about cell phones... they are > expecting you to dial up using an analog modem. So the cellular company > routes data calls through a bank of out-dial modems! > > cell phone --- tower --- switch --- modem pool ~~~ ISP modem --- internet > > In Europe, the GSM providers offer a chioce between analog modems or > ISDN, so it's possible to go all-digital. Here in the US, many carriers > (Sprint, Verizon, Alltell) are using the CDMA standard. Rather than allowing > you to call an existing ISP's modem, they simply act as the internet service > provider themselves. You get the all-digital connection, but then you're > forced to use the carrier's internet service.
You can always dial up to ISDN using your cell phone, this makes it an all-digital connection. David
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