I’ve been particularly encouraged about some of the developments I’ve been seeing in the broadband arena in recent months. Twenty years or so after the advent of DSL and the cable modem, the industry still continues to find new ways of getting broadband to more people at faster speeds and at lower cost. And although a lot of the advances are based on technology, some are based on looking at much lower-tech considerations that impact how widely broadband is deployed and adopted.
Now and then I think it’s worthwhile to take some time to consider how much has been accomplished collectively in the last 12 months or so and to rethink our traditional assumptions about what is and isn’t possible on the broadband front.
Technology advances
In the category of technology developments, I would have to include:
- Souped-up DSL- At least two methods for enhancing DSL have arrived on the scene. Several manufacturers have implemented vectoring, which enables network operators to support greater speeds over the same distance or the same speed over a greater distance by canceling the noise that would otherwise degrade signals transmitted over copper. Another option that can boost either speed or signal distance comes from Actelis (News - Alert) and is known as “Broadband Accelerator.” According to the company, the technology works by increasing signals mid-loop in a low-power and spectrally compatible way.
- Not-quite FTTH- Adtran also has found a way to get more life out of existing copper connections, but unlike with DSL, Adtran’s approach--known as ultra-broadband Ethernet (UBE)—uses copper only for the final 200 meters or so to the customer’s home. According to the company, this fiber-fed approach supports speeds of 100 Mbps or more.
- Souped-up DOCSIS- The coaxial cabling that cable operators use inherently supports greater bandwidth than the twisted-pair copper that telcos use. And as I learned in a recent interview with Daniel Howard, chief technology officer for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, cable operators are exploring a range of techniques to upgrade their bandwidth including analog channel reclamation, a move toward unicast and going to 1 GHz transmission on the downstream.
- Not-quite FTTH either- Some cable operators are looking at getting a potentially bigger bandwidth boost by deploying fiber at least part way to the customer, however—and as Howard Frazier, chairman of the IEEE (News - Alert) 802.3 EPoC PHY study group explained in another recent interview, the industry is beginning to coalesce around the emerging Ethernet PON over coax standard that aims to do just that.
- Spectrum (News - Alert) sharing and broadband wireless- Although the technology is largely overlooked in metro areas, broadband wireless is another broadband option—and it’s one that is quite critical in remote rural areas where other options are too costly to deploy. The downside to some broadband wireless systems is that they rely on line-of-sight communications. But before long, we should expect to see some broadband wireless options that can support speeds of up to 22 Mbps over distances as great as 100 kilometers miles, and don’t require line-of-sight.
Some people call this “super WiFi” but the official name is wireless regional area networking (WRAN)—and it was made possible by a 2010 FCC (News - Alert) order that enables unlicensed use of vacant TV broadcast spectrum, provided that the equipment includes dynamic database technology to make sure it operates only on vacant channels. Products conforming to the standard are expected in a year or so but at least one non-standard implementation—from Carlson and Neul—is scheduled for availability as soon as the second quarter of 2012.
Low-tech advances
Just as encouraging as technology development are some decidedly low-tech developments which nevertheless have the potential to give broadband a big boost on the deployment front.
- Gig U tackles bureaucratic challenges- Some broadband deployment challenges are more bureaucratic than technical. But a group of universities participating in the Gig U initiative have set out to change this by coordinating efforts to educate local municipalities about optimal permit processes and other broadband deployment challenges—an approach that has already yielded benefits for network operators in at least one community.
- Connect2Compete- Not everyone can afford broadband, even when it is available to them. But network operators participating in an initiative known as Connect2Compete now offer discounted broadband for families with at least one child eligible for the school lunch program.
Edited by Jamie Epstein