Time to Double Down on DSL?

[korsjs]

Thinking about the efforts of U.S. telcos to extend fiber deeper in their networks to
boost DSL speeds and support IPTV services, an odd thought occurred to me: why don’t they
simply install a second phone line and DSL set-top in the home for video? If each DSL
modem and line served up 6 Mbps, that’s 12 Mbps immediately available for a triple-play
offering.

In Asia and Europe a number of players are successfully delivering the triple-play via DSL
including Softbank BB in Japan, Free in France, FastWeb in Italy, and Video Networks
Limited in the UK. The model works.

In the 1990s second phone line installations soared as U.S. consumers added links for
dial-up internet connections, fax machines and home office needs. Then the trend
reversed, as consumers dumped those second lines in favor of broadband DSL and cable
modems, and the efax and VoIP services that ride over them. As a result, there’s a lot
of unused copper in neighborhoods and homes. Would installing DSL second lines for,
rather than trenching in fiber, cost less and accelerate video deployment for telcos?


http://blog.cabledigitalnews.com/index.php?id=273

[Wayne88]

That's a good point. It would be a good way to rapidly get TV via copper. I wonder though, how close to the central office (in copper length not as the crow flies) you would have to be in order to get the necessary upload and download speed for TV. I once learned that one of my lines is 4770 feet from the cental office ....that line has seen up to 2.8mbps/770kbps with Verizon DSL and my other line has gotten up to 5mbps/850kbps with Cavalier DSL (though surprisingly variable for DSL on the Cavalier side). What is the lower speed limit (up and down) for reliable IPTV? Thanks! BTW I'm still jealous of your FIOS.....they are laying it very close by in Howard and Ann Arundel counties but no estimate for Baltimore yet.
Cheers!
Wayne

[ayrton]

Isn't that the stuff where you have to have your house moved to the "Switch"

We have a small company, SBC, that doesn't seem to care. I shall soon be dropping their old junk lines and go VOIP with Vonage.