DSL Technology Just Got Faster

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February 23, 2001 (8:10 AM EST)

By Jade Boyd,

A standard adopted this month by the International Telecommunication Union could eventually spur voice-over-DSL service, experts said. But they noted that widespread deployment is still a year away.

The G.991.2 standard defines single-pair high-bit-rate DSL (SHDSL) as DSL technology that lets carriers use established copper wiring to provide symmetric data transmission rates ranging from 192 kbit/s at 6,000 feet to 2.3 Mbit/s at 20,000 feet.

At a given range, SHDSL—the newest member of the symmetric DSL family—promises 35 percent to 50 percent higher data rates than current versions, analysts said.

SDSL already is the preferred DSL service for businesses because it offers data rates high enough to support services such as voice, Web hosting, and e-mail servers in both directions. Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) technology, which is preferred by Web-surfing residential users, has high downstream rates and low upstream rates.

The adoption of the ITU standard is significant because it will let vendors make SDSL equipment that works on any network, said Peter Meade, managing partner at consultancy TeleResearch Inc.

But SHDSL is superior to SDSL technology because it supports higher data rates at greater distances from the telephone company's central office. SHDSL also uses a single, twisted pair of copper wiring, while current SDSL technology requires two pairs, Meade said. These factors will let providers offer less expensive DSL services to a greater proportion of business customers, he said.

Chipsets supporting the standard have been on the market since the third quarter of 2000, said Brad Duft, a senior product manager in Nokia's broadband division. Nokia (stock: NOK), which is testing designs for SHDSL customer premises equipment, expects its products to hit the market along with several other vendors' products in the second quarter, Duft said.

Adtran, Copper Mountain, Efficient Networks, and Netopia are among the other vendors testing SHDSL products.

But customers won't see services until carriers finish their own tests, meaning SHDSL won't be widely available for another year. DSL wholesaler Covad will test SHDSL products this year, but won't say when it will offer services.

In a Feb. 8 report, IDC estimated there will be 100,000 business customers using SHDSL by year's end. By 2003, that number will grow to 900,000 subscribers, said IDC analyst Brad Baldwin. The benefit of cheap voice service will drive enterprise adoption of the technology, Baldwin said.

Competitive local exchange carrier Mpower, one of the first providers offering VoDSL , said it would start testing SHDSL equipment this year. It currently offers VoDSL via SDSL equipment in 42 markets.