Australian Researcher Boosts ADSL Speeds
sea_stuart writes "Like your ADSL connection to go 100 times faster? Despite the grim state of Australian mathematics and science, there is still exciting original work being done Down Under. John Papandriopoulos, a Research Fellow with the ARC Special Research Centre for Ultra-Broadband Information Networks (CUBIN) has developed a method to reduce crosstalk interference in ADSL technologies to bring speeds up the theoretical maxima possible. With an Australian Federal election due in a few weeks, and both parties promising improved broadband speeds and access, this is a welcome development, hopefully enabling higher speeds without huge expenses."
I got this story last month.
Its partly because a Universal Service Obligation is built into our telecommunications laws. Companies which supply loss making services to remote areas get a subsidy from companies which do not. It may not be a driver in the current debate but it is certainly a symptom.
Another factor is that remote areas are currently being hit bad by a drought. Hand wringing over communication is one way for the Government to be seen to be helping people where they can't really do anything about water.
And to top it off, we actually have a very bad problem with rural infrastructure. We have 1/10th the population of the US, and slightly less land area to service. The cost of improving service in remote areas is a political hot potato. The party currently in power is a coalition of the National party which traditionally supports country voters and the more broad based Liberal party. By making broadband an issue the Government is trying to tell the country voters that the opposition Labour party doesn't have an interest in supporting them.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
There's a company in Sweden called UpZide Labs (http://www.upzide.com/) that's been working on a technology called VDSL (Vectored DSL) for a few years. This also promises speeds of 100Mb/s using normal copper connections in use right now with normal ADSL.
Faster ADSL in Australia? I can't even get Mobile (Cell) phone coverage. Hell, where I work we don't even have landlines just a fucking public telephone booth. Gotta love Rural Australia :/
First: VDSL is already in active deployment e.g. in Germany (offered in speeds of 25/5 and 50/10 mbit here). Second: VDSL does NOT stand for "Vectored DSL" but for "Very High Speed DSL".
This might explain why.
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