Future of xDSL speeds?

[Vai]

The subject of FTTx (Fibre to the cabinet or home) is raised again and it seems there is a feeling within BT that the requirements of allowing competitors equal access to a new fibre local loop is not much of a motivation to spend money. Also companies across Europe that are rolling out fibre are criticised for creating a digital divide. In the case of France and Germany the fibre roll-outs represent companies building new networks in countries that do not have extensive cable networks. Any new fibre network in the UK is immediately competing with Virgin Media who have a fibre/coax hybrid network passing some 45% of households, which makes the chance of someone apart from BT building it almost zero.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/3058-oodles-of-bandwidth-once-21cn-rolled-out.html

I was under the impression that FTTK would be rolling out around the same time as 21CN, but it sounds like BT are not going to bother with it for quite some time.
Now correct me if I am wrong, but new xDSL technologies for the most part just increase the cap on your line, so once your SNR is limiting your speed it won't matter going from "8mb" to "24mb" LLU if your stuck with 4mb already.
Is the only hope of faster speeds now cable?

 

[NathanE]

If the network operators were being serious about fibre they'd just start a seperate company where they all have shares in it... It'll happen eventually but only when all the commercial potential in current technologies is exhausted. Just think back to the modem days... 9.6, 14.4, 32.2 then 56k... and at each stage they would always say "That's it folks, this is as fast as phone lines can go!"

21CN was never about fibre AFAIK. It's about completely transitioning BT's network to IP. So voice calls are no longer circuit switched but packet switched.

 

[WotDa]

Is the only hope of faster speeds now cable?

Depends how much you want to pay for faster speeds.

None of my suggestions are that realistic;

• Move to Sweden.
• Move to Japan. - Win win there tbh.
• Buy your own fibre network.
• Get a leased line.

BT really don't seem to care, they only seem to want to stick a DSLAM at the end of your drive. However they are rolling out FTTH next year on one estate near Bluewater iirc.

 

[NathanE]

Of course they don't care Network operators will begin to care when content providers are phoning them up every day offering them money to roll out faster speeds so they can push more media and advertising to their customers... that day is drawing nearer all the time.

 

[WotDa]

Of course they don't care Network operators will begin to care when content providers are phoning them up every day offering them money to roll out faster speeds so they can push more media and advertising to their customers... that day is drawing nearer all the time.

I can imagine the advert now.

"Behold. The next generation of Broadband is here, for only £100 per month you can download an mp3 in half a second, and a with a generous bandwidth limit of 10gb* per month you can even download some films..

Some terms and conditions apply, anyone downloading music, and/or films illegally will have their 20 year contract terminated, *fair use is 5gb per month, customers who exceed this will be limited to 30kb/s for the remainder of their contract. A small setup fee of £2000 applies to all connections."

 

[NathanE]

It's all about subsidies

 

[tolien]

BT really don't seem to care, they only seem to want to stick a DSLAM at the end of your drive.

There's nothing bad about a DSLAM at the end of your drive. Brings you near enough to parity with Virgin Media (VDSL/VDSL2, even ADSL2+ wouldn't be so bad with a cabinet a couple of kilometres away at most), and avoids the horrible cost/customer passed ratio of the fibre between cabinet and premises.

The major problem is Ofcom - without a clear statement on what would happen if BT ever did build a FTTx network (though we all know the likely answer - rent it out for peanuts), they're never going to get the investment money to do it properly.

This makes a fine point:

One fact of life that users need to accept, is if we the consumers want companies to give us faster broadband options we should be prepared to pay for them. Given the explosion in broadband demand as prices dropped into the £15-25 a month zone, there would seem to be little scope for firms marketing an ultra-fast broadband service for £40 or more, but this is the sort of price that new technology roll-outs may need to ensure any interest from those controlling the investment capital. One estimate mentioned for the cost of rolling out FTTH to 90% of UK households is 14 billion Euros.

"Free" and cheap services aren't compatible with providers spending thousands of pounds per customer - raise your hand if you'd like to spend, say, £100 for a 100Mbps service...

 

[Phemo]

"Free" and cheap services aren't compatible with providers spending thousands of pounds per customer - raise your hand if you'd like to spend, say, £100 for a 100Mbps service...

I'd do it My Internet is close to £40 anyway ... which gets claimed back from work as expenses Even if I had to pay it all I'd probably do it but then not many people are as crazy as that.

After all, back in the 56k/ISDN days when I took both phone bill and ISP charges into account it was quite a lot more than £40 a month ...

 

[tolien]

After all, back in the 56k/ISDN days when I took both phone bill and ISP charges into account it was quite a lot more than £40 a month ...

Quite. ADSL wasn't cheap in the early days either (and it still isn't...I'm £34.99 to Zen every month for this line, and I've seriously considered going up to Office Max at £93 a month), but I suspect you'll find we're in a small minority.