[LINK] Telstra - taking its ball and going home.

[rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au]

Jan,

ADSL2 needs new DSLAMs, yes. ADSL as it now stands can run up to 6 Mbps 
*subject to buts* such as distance from exchange. Yes, an existing ADSL 
system could be reconfigured in software to run the 6 Mbps maximum speed.

I must admit I'm not familiar with ADSL network deployment rules from 
ACIF, so I can't tell you (for eg) whether part of the 1.5 Mbps limit 
has to do with boring stuff like interference rules.

ADSL 2+ was only ratified relatively recently - 2003. The network 
deployment rules were revised to allow it last year.

The entire debate is so surrounded in drivel and self-interest that it's 
nearly impossible to untangle. But a little snippet: for all the 
bleating that "we need fast broadband for business", what I see in the 
hard data is two things:

1) Home user takeup of faster services far outstrips business' interest 
in upgrading (say) branch offices to similar speeds; and
2) Home users drive downloads.

So to an extent I think there's bulldusting going on: people talk about 
fast broadband as a business neccesity, but outside the information 
industries it's not (and we in the industry tend to think of our own 
requirements as the template for all the world). But among boring 
everyday business, even with 512 K services easily available, there's a 
huge long tail at the *very* bottom of the market using 128 Kbps 
services. Since there's faster stuff out there, the stories about huge 
unmet demand ring a little hollow...

RC
Jan Whitaker wrote:

> At 08:32 PM 9/08/2006, Danny Yee wrote:
>
>> And if you look at iiNet's analysis of _actual_ bandwidths for
>> customers with ADSL2 modems, it's obvious that nearly everyone
>> in those areas can get 6Mbps+ using existing infrastructure.
>
>
> is this a case of needing new DSLAMS in the exchanges to enable people 
> to get adsl2+?  The guy in one of the stories yesterday, may have been 
> Paul Budde, but not sure, said that all Telstra needed to do was flip 
> a switch and 6+Mb would be available from their exchanges as well.
>
> If that was done, what would it to do the backhaul ability to meet 
> that increased demand?
>
> BTW, many ISPs with ADSL2/2+ are selling it cheaper for faster rates. 
> But unfortunately, there isn't enough competition or installed base in 
> that space outside the inner burbs -- yet.
>
> Jan
>
>
> Jan Whitaker
> JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
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>
> 'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed, 
> there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
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