With some Telcos already marketing VDSL2 roll outs, it’s only a matter of time until we witness the emergence of VDSL2 plans, VDSL2 speeds and further VDSL2 providers offering respective services. Australia’s two leading Telecommunication Operators, Optus and Telstra, are also conducting their own research and tests on prospective Broadband technologies such as VDSL2 (very fast digital subscriber line) and BPL (Broadband over Power Lines), the latter being considered as inappropriate at this point in time.
VDSL2 on the other hand is an upgradable DSL transmission technology which has superseded ADSL2+ and one that can also make use of the current copper line infrastructure. Visiting Ericsson telecommunication executive ‘Martin Mellor’ suggests that there’s alot to like about VDSL2 as new technologies will be able to take advantage of the existing copper lines and states that Ericsson’s latest dynamic spectrum management technology could theoretically increase maximum VDSL2+ speeds to 250 megabits (250Mbps) when it becomes available in two or three years time.
It’s becoming more and more likely from all the relevant information surfacing on VDSL2 that this type of Broadband technology will in fact become the preferred technology for delivering Broadband Internet over the new proposed national network. I would be very surprised if ISP’s that I previously mentioned were not particpating in VDSL2 tests and that this type of technology be overlooked. The question now is, not about which type of Broadband technology will be used such as FTTN, FTTH, WiMAX or VDSL2, it’s who will win the NBN bid and manage the new national broadband network.
“We think VDSL2 [transmission technology] is a great step forward from ADSL2+ but we don’t think that’s the end of the life for copper,” said Mr Mellor, who visited Australia last week. “There’s too much copper buried in the ground, and operators want to make that sweat, and there’s always new technologies that are looking to take advantage of that.”
Excerpt: Place for copper in network
