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+------------------------------------------------------+ ▌ Oblivion Underground Magazine - Issue 1 - 15/03/2000 ▌ ▌ ADSL Explained by Cyber0ptix ▌ ▌ E-Mail : cyberoptix@email.com ▌ +------------------------------------------------------+ ADSL Explained -------------- Low cost connectivity to the internet really is a fundamental requirement if it is to become embraced by the technical and non-technical business alike. In Europe the provision of internet bandwidth is the province of telecommunications operators who, in turn, often supply capacity through Inernet Service Providers (ISP's). To date, internet connectivity has mainly been in the form of dial up connections by modem, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or some form of permanent leased line connection. Such facilities are generally available accross the whole of Europe. New Technologies. ----------------- The quest for high bandwidth at low cost has resulted in the emergence of new technologies, with one of the most talked about being Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) which provides sufficiently high speed connection to the Internet to alleviate the problem of bottlenecks. ADSL - or the more generic term xDSL - is a full duplex method of communicating over the copper wires that connect subscribers into the existing telephone network, ADSL, for example, piggybacks a data handling capacity onto current telephone voice channels, with low voice occupying the convensional low end 4 Kilohertz spectrum, with data occupying the bandwidth above that. Given that even xDSL technologies have a limit in term of bandwidth, ADSL technology is based on the premise that high speed is of greater value to users in one direction than the other - hence the term 'Asymmetric'. The bias is heavily in favour ofthe subscriber, typically with a 2 megabits connection to the subscriber and a much lower connection - 256kbps - from the subscriber to the internet. Killer Applications. -------------------- Although telecommunications operators throughout Europe have tried various applications over xDSL, including video on demand, it has become clear that e-business and the Internet are the killer applications. There has been a move amongst several telecommunications operators to search for specific new applications for xDSL technology in order to create new revenue streams rather than cannibalise existing leased line services. But trials of video on demand - the most likely looking candidate - have been singularly unsuccessful and xDSL is reverting to its true role as a high speed method of connecting to the Internet and a business-enabling technology. Provision of xDSL in Europe is patchy, with some countries far more advanced than others in their adoption of the technology. This is how ADSL is looking in the United Kingdom. British Telecom --------------- Conducted a trial of its ADSL based interactive services Network in about 20 exchange areas in north and west London. The trial started in October 1998 and was scheduled to run until March 1999 and to include areound 2,000 residential and business customers. In July 1999, BT announced that it would invest £250 million in rolling out ADSL to pass approximately 6 million homes. It plans to provide a large number of products wholesale to the service providers, offering a reange of of speeds between 512Kbps and 2.3Mbps. BT expects wholesale prices to be between £40 and £150 per month. The service is due to start in March 2000. BT closed th ADSL trial in November 1999 and replaced it with an ADSL beta-trial run by BT Interactive, the BT ISP. This allowed existing users of the trial service to continue, at a higher price, and provided a brief opertunity for new users to join. www.bt.com www.isntrial.bt.com Edge Technologies ----------------- In January 1999 Edge Technologies announced it would be offering a UK-wide broadband network based on ATM and ADSL in cooperation with an unnamed local loop provider. The EDGE Network was to support a range of video and broadband data services for business, including Virtual Private networks, video conferencing and corporate networkign as well as Internet Access, IP telephony and E-Commerce. www.edgetechnologies.co.uk Kingston Communications ----------------------- A telecoms service provider for Hull, North England, started ADSL trials for video on demand and other applications in 1996. It launched its Ultra Service for business users in December 1998, claiming its customers were the first users of a regular, tarrifed ADSL service in the UK although the proposed tarrif levels were much higher than those offered by most other DSL services worldwide. Service was subsequently withdrawn. In December 1998 it launched a tarrifed, public ADSL service which has subsequently been relabelled as a trial since Kingston found the technology platform unsuitable to provide video on demand and other entertainment services. In October 1999 Kingston launched an Interactive digital television service using ADSL, offering 30 Channels for £12.49/Month. Internet and E-Mail services cost £14.99/Month, with downstream speeds up to 256Mbps. A video on demand service was also available. Catch ya'll later Cyber0ptix.....