So, how fast is fast?

In a recent post I referred to faster and faster internet connections becoming available to consumers, and I figured I’d put a bit more info behind that. I do, quite literally, recall when it was said that we’d never get more than 128kb/s down copper wires, and when the notion of fiber to households was laughed off as uneconomical. It just shows you how things can change and how science-fiction can become science-fact. Here’s a short roundup of some of the alternative fast broadband options now taking the world stage. I am indebted to the collective wisdom of the many contributors and editors of wikipedia for much of this roundup. Did I miss any out? Tell me.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)
We all know about this one, as it’s the most common form of broadband out there in the western world. Uses copper wire so is not subject to the ‘last mile’ problem previously mentioned (consequently it’s the most common choice for broadband provision over legacy copper telephone lines). Speeds vary dependent upon location and which of the variations on standards that are implemented, but it’s very common to have around 1MB or 2Mbits/s downstream and around 250Kbits/s upstream. It’s increasingly common to have 8Mbits/s upstream and up to 500Kbits/s upstream, and in some cases we’re seeing 24Mbits/s downstream and up to 1Mbits/s upstream. The standards extend to provide up to 24Mb down and up to 3.5Mb up.

VDSL or VHDSL
VDSL provides (as the name suggests) even faster speeds over legacy copper wire. Maximum speed is up to 26 Mbit/s downstream and the same upstream (symmetric) or up to 52 Mbit/s downstream and 12 Mbit/s upstream (asymmetric). VDSL is geared towards the increasing proliferation of high-bandwidth applications such as HDTV, VoIP, and general internet access, and the high upstream speeds make it particularly promising platform for technologies like izimi. As of 2006 the market is still small but growing, though in some regions (notably Japan and South Korea) VDSL is predominant.

VDSL is currently available at varying speeds in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and many parts of the US.

FiOS
FIOS (Fiber Optic Service) is the odd one out here as it uses fiber not copper, the service is pioneered in the US by Verizon and is enjoying promising uptake. Like VDSL it is aimed at fulfilling the needs of higher bandwidth IP based services like HDTV, VoIP, increasing P2P traffic, and again it’s a great facilitator of technologies like izimi. Common speeds range from 5MBits/s downstream and 2Mbits/s upstream, to 50 downstream and 10 upstream. I note that even at the lowest speeds you’re looking at faster upstream speeds than many people enjoy for their downstream speed today. Fiber really does hold great promises for even faster speeds.

So whats the point of all this? I guess its to remind us that things change fast in the web world, and today’s defacto standards (and more importantly, limitations) don’t necessary apply tomorrow.

David Ingram

my company – http://www.izimi.com/
my blog – http://www.dpingram.com/

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