Short-range DSL now moves to Gigabit speeds

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thinkbroadband :: Say hello to new 1Gbps ITU G.9700 standard

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Just lately, the phone-line-based DSL standard has been extended to the Gigabit class courtesy of the new ITU G.9700 standard. It will take a significant amount of time before the necessary hardware is released in to the market, whether as professional-install hardware or self-install hardware.

It is primarily a way to keep the phone-line-based DSL technology alive and relevant even though the fibre-to-the-premises deployments like what is being pushed in France, Australia under a Labour government or some US cities by Google is being considered the status quo.

On the other hand, it is being pitched as a faster alternative to the short-range VDSL2 deployments that are being used in “fibre-to-the-building” or some “fibre-to-the-cabinet” setups. In the UK, they see a situation where the fibre-copper transfer point could be serving a small group of premises whether it be a street or a block of flats. On the other hand, they also suggested the technology for older buildings where it could be harder and prohibitively expensive to run optical fibre in these buildings for a fibre-to-the-premises setup.

At the moment, like with other DSL technologies, this will initially require different splitters which could make a requirement for professional “truck-roll-based” installation for these setups rather than the cheaper “self-install” kits commonly used with ADSL setups.

It will be interesting to see how this will affect the concept of deploying next-generation broadband in different areas, whether they are the target of a fibre-copper or full-fibre setup.

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