HDTV Almanac - Faster Broadband on the Way?

[alfredpoor]

Last week, a company named Ikanos Communications made an announcement that is somewhat propellor-headed, but could have far-reaching impact on the average consumer. The company announced the lauch of “NodeScale Vectoring“, which reduces the impact of crosstalk between common copper wire phone lines. It uses unique algorithms, compression, and coding techniques to reduce the processing [...]

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[Rodolfo]

The positive impact that you are referring to would be noticeable with line activity within the subscriber-network services, such as FTP between close-network subscribers, or IPTV for example when the media servers are also within their 100Mbps back-bone, rather than reaching outside for content.

Regarding your statement of “about twice as fast as the fastest offering from residential fiber optic services” I actually have 100Mbps since 2006 with FTTP (Fiber to the Premises).

However, my normal Internet activity is usually bound to the places I reach, the servers they have, the good/bad lines they have, etc., and I usually only get a small fraction of the potential 100Mbps speed bragged by my service provider.

My cable company does not offer slower (and cheaper) tiers that could fit the actual internet activity and needs of every person, so the hype behind looking forward for super-high speeds in certain areas is good as long as the company offers multiple-speed-tier options to fit the actual speed outside the close-network, and that the company allows for switching at no cost to higher tiers, as the external services grow or as the subscriber finds it necessary.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[alfredpoor]

That's great that you've had 100 Mbps over fiber for so long, Rodolfo. I believe that Verizon's FiOS plan tops out at 50 Mbps, but I'm glad to have the correct information. And everything you say about other pinch points in the system are true. It has been true at every step of the way in the development of the Internet; as demand grows, the capacity of the various components have grown.

Personally, I think it's good that eventually people may be able to enjoy fiber optic speeds using the existing copper infrastructure. I think the lower cost of such a system might encourage the investment required for the other parts of the system to match the capacity.

Thanks for taking the time to share the information about your Internet service and usage.

Alfred