Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The idea that the rollout of a fibre to the node (FTTN) network would mean the removal of existing copper-based services is a "myth", according to the managing director of a substantial ISP.
"It is entirely possible – and for pro-competitive outcomes it is necessary – to preserve indefinitely the existing facilities-based investment framework, including ADSL2+, while building and operating a future FTTN-based national broadband network," Internode MD Simon Hackett has told the National Broadband Network expert panel.
It is often suggested that installation of a fibre node would involve the removal of existing copper wires serving the premises covered by that node.
"If we start from the mistaken belief that we must do a full node cut-over – that is, completely disconnect all of the copper wires leading back to the exchange from every area in which a new node is deployed – the consequences for the industry and consumers will be detrimental and long-lasting," said Hackett.
While it might be cheaper to carry out a simultaneous cut-over when a node is installed, Hackett argued that ISPs already pay per-connection fees for ADSL connections and build those costs into their charges, implying that a similar model could be used to move subscribers to (and perhaps from) fibre links.
He also claimed there is "strong technical evidence" to show how exchange-based ADSL2+ services can coexist with node-based VDSL2 connections.
"Indeed, the critical point of this entire submission is that exchange-based ADSL2+ services can coexist with Node-based VDSL2 services, with practically no performance impact to either service type," added Hackett.
VDSL2 can deliver speeds up to 100Mbps over the short distances associated with FTTN. Once the line length reaches around 1.6km (1mi), speeds are similar to ADSL2+. Unlike ADSL, VDSL2 is a symmetric protocol which means subscribers enjoy fast uploads as well as downloads.
Providers in Europe and North and South America have already deployed VDSL2 services.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
How to Make Business Discovery Work for Your Business
Business Discovery takes its cues from consumer apps. Like Google, it encourages us- ers to hunt for and explore data without worrying about or even noticing the underly- ing technology. Their entire experience is working within an intuitive interface to get real-time, self-service results with only minimal training. ...more
Try an easy-to-use set of web-enabled
tools for business-class productivity services. Office 365 provides
anywhere-access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars
on almost any device.
LATEST HEADLINES FROM YOUR IT
