Telecom testing high-speed broadband
The Dominion Post | Monday, 26 May 2008
Telecom Wholesale has begun testing VDSL2 internet access equipment supplied by Alcatel-Lucent in its laboratories.
The telco has previously been non-committal about the technology, which can offer broadband download speeds of 30-50 megabits a second over copper phone lines if customers are very close to a telephone exchange or roadside cabinet.
Product manager Paul Hayes says VDSL2 might not advantage all customers.
Telecom has now installed ADSL2+ equipment – which offers a top download speed of 24 megabits per second – in 100 exchanges where it is used to service about 350,000 customers.
Like all DSL technologies, performance degrades over long copper lines and Mr Hayes says: "It is not the case that VDSL2 is always better. Sometimes, as a phone line gets longer, ADSL2+ will outperform it."
Vodafone is bullish about VDSL2 and announced in March that it would use it to provide superfast broadband to some customers in Auckland from mid-year.
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