Analysis: Back on the broadband wagon

By Stephen Bruce

Posted on 3 May 2005 at 11:46

In Korea and Japan, the investments were subsidised by the government, in the US these upgrades are the natural path to renewing an ageing network.

BT, which has just launched trials of ADSL2+ among a select few employees, wouldn't indicate expected costs, saying only that its strategy for the new services would depend on its trials. It doesn't expect to announce ADSL2+ packages for customers for several months.

'The trials are only in their early stages and at the moment we're more focused on extending what we can do with existing ADSL technology. The attainable speeds of between 2Mb/sec and 8Mb/sec are the natural progression and should be sufficient for most people,' said a BT spokesperson.

NTL is also running trials of ADSL2+, seeing it as the perfect vehicle for delivering on-demand television to its customers. Ironically, the ISP, which will use its own network for the trials, won't deliver the services through its optical connections, but through the copper wires that were originally bundled into the cables purely for making voice calls. The company's short phone loops, which run just 300 yards from its fibre, are ideal for faster DSL.

NTL is also investing in ADSL2+ DSLAM technology in BT's exchanges to reach homes and businesses that aren't on its fibre network. This throws down the gauntlet to BT. The competition could prove key to sparking the market, at least in built-up areas.

'ADSL2+ will arrive, maybe by the end of the year in some areas,' said Jupiter Research's Fogg. 'But this will be the next digital divide, and urban areas are going to get the services, rural areas may not.'