Faster broadband came closer to reality with the completion of the latest International Telecommunication Union standard for DSL. The InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland is an international organization that coordinates global telecommunication networks and services.
Founded in 1865 on the principle of international cooperation between government and the private sector, the ITU provides a global forum in which government and industry work to build a consensus on a wide range of issues affecting the future. It is responsible for adopting international treaties, regulations and standards governing telecommunications to bridge the digital divide by encouraging international and regional cooperation in radio spectrum management, standards development, and the global dissemination of information.
ITU membership represents a cross-section of the telecommunications and information technology industry, from the world's largest manufacturers and carriers to small, innovative new players working in new fields like IP networking.
The new standard is at the center of strategies at U.S. regional carriers SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. The specification, called VDSL2 (Very High Bit Rate DSL 2), can deliver as much as 100 Mbps (megabits per second) both upstream and downstream. That bandwidth, many times current DSL speeds of just a few megabits per second or less, can easily deliver voice calls, videoconferencing, high-definition TV and video on demand over existing copper phone lines, according to the standards body, an agency of the United Nations. VDSL2 will play a key role in faster DSL services coming from major U.S. carriers over the next few years, although they have different expectations as to when gear that uses the new standards will be available. SBC and BellSouth plans to build a fiber infrastructure down customers' streets or to a neighborhood node and use copper wire loops to homes and businesses. VDSL2 significantly increases the capacity of copper wires. Over time, BellSouth plans to upgrade from current offerings of 1.5 Mbps (3 Mbps in some areas) to as much as 100 Mbps downstream. VDSL2 gains speed on earlier technologies as the copper loop gets shorter. On a 5,000-foot copper loop, it delivers about 12 Mbps, the same speed as ADSL2. But at just 500 feet, VDSL2 can provide 80 Mbps to 100 Mbps, compared with ADSL2's 24 Mbps, he said. BellSouth's strategy is to bring fiber to the curb in front of a subscriber's home, so the average copper segment will be about 250 feet. Most customers will get service between 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps. SBC plans to speed up its broadband offerings by bringing fiber to neighborhood nodes and using VDSL2 over the copper loops, most of which will be about 2,500 feet. Subscribers will get at least 20 Mbps and in some cases much more, depending on distance from the node and other factors, he said. The rollout, called Project Lightspeed, will begin later this year and should become available to 17 million homes and businesses over the next three years. Qwest Communications International Inc. is also interested in VDSL2, but is waiting to implement it until vendors ship compliant network equipment.On the other hand, Verizon's strategy is to deploy fiber to the curb and then lay more fiber all the way to the home or office for customers who sign up for its Fios high-speed service. The fiber infrastructure could deliver as much as 100 Mbps of downstream data in addition to hundreds of channels of video.
Which way will it go? The jury is still out.
