The quest for superspeed not that far away

With all the cabling companies and telecoms providers trying to compete for a slice of the broadband market coupled with an ever increasing requirement for faster speeds - it's not surprising that we're not far away from getting speeds which are already offered in other parts of the world.

With the BT trials of ADSL2 and ADSL2+ already well underway, and the promise of speeds up to 25Mb/s, it's already looking to be over powered by a new technology recently approved by the ITU-T.

VDSL2 (Very high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line) may hold the future of broadband and Internet usage for business and private users around the UK. In it's specification document, it discusses the potentials of being able to offer 100Mb per second synchronously (both download and upload). It is being billed as a potential platform from which to base 'triple-play' services as offered by NTL, Telewest and WightCable.

Encompassing high definitiion TV (HD-TV), telephone (VoIP) and broadband services down the single copper connection, it provides a real cost saving to standard fibre networks currently in existence.

As always, it is not without it's limitations. Currently VDSL2 is set to only be able to provide service at ranges of approximately 2km from the switches, however at greater distances, the technology promises to offer service at around speeds comparable with ADSL2 and ADSL2+ (up to 25Mb/s)

There are a number of articles regarding the technology available and anyone wishing to read further about the technology should visit:

• http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=74641&site=lightreading
• http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2243

Already, manufacturers such as Linksys and DLink are launching modems and routers which are capable of handling ADSL2+ speeds - it wont be long before VDSL2 compatible units are soon to be available. My advice, if you are considering the purchase of a DSL modem or router - look out for an ADSL2 or VDSL2 compatible model. The technology is built in such a way that they are interoperable and will provide a much greater return on Investment for your money.

As someone who works very closely within the telecomms and Internet marketplace, I will certainly be following the developments of this technology and post further entries as I hear about them.

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