Within the next 10 years, most consumers in the world will have access to the Internet. Among them, the technologically inclined will yearn for a broadband access that could be hundreds of times faster than that available today. High-speed access to every home (whether over traditional telephone wire, cable or wireless networks) will enable communications and entertainment applications in every room of the house. Real time high-fidelity music, video conferencing and streaming, movies-on-demand and other exciting applications will be available from service providers over ‘always-on’ connection into the home or business enterprise. Multiple technologies such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Cable Modems, Home Phone Networking, Bluetooth Wireless, Optical Networking and Voice-Over-Packet will drive the evolution of broadband networking to every consumer in the world. While cable modems use a shared bandwidth, DSL uses a secure, point-to-point connection between the consumer and the service provider.
Digital Subscriber Line: Broadband access over telephone wires
More than 700 million phone lines provide high quality, dependable voice service today to the entire world. But, the bandwidth offered by the telephone lines has been untapped until recently. Regular telephone wires are capable of carrying data between the home and the central office at rates that are a minimum of 50 times faster than the 56 kbps modems in use today. Among the various kinds of DSL offered to the home, Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) has been the most dominant. Today’s ADSL connection is capable of supporting up to 12 Mbps downstream from the central office and up to 1.5 Mbps upstream from each consumer’s home. One important aspect of ADSL is that one single phone line can carry both 'universal life line' voice and data simultaneously. A combination of Internet access, multiple telephony lines, and video-type applications can be offered over single DSL connection. ITU-T has standardized an enhanced version of DSL referred to as ADSL2+ which allows downstream rates up to 24Mbps be offered.
Voice over Packet: Boosting the telephony market
Voice over Packet (VoP) is a family of technologies that allow service providers to offer multiple voice lines to business and residential customers without the requirement to significantly upgrade the copper phone line network. By using VoP, service providers benefit from significant revenue increases without the tremendous costs associated with copper network infrastructure build-out. For business and residential consumers, in addition to the ability to have multiple voice lines without breaking the budget, VoP also holds the promise of the integration of services such as voice mail, email, and fax through one single application (typically called unified messaging). Consumers will be able to listen to voice mail, read (or listen to) email, and send and receive faxes all through one single platform, which may also integrate with their computers, cellular phones, and PDA devices. Another benefit of VoP is the ability to significantly reduce the cost for long distance calls.
Home Networking: The connected home
There is an increasing number of homes with broadband access that are interested in networking computers and other equipment at home. Telecommuters, Small Office/Home offices (SOHOs) and homes with multiple PCs require sharing peripherals such as printers and Internet access. Various technologies such as Home Phone Networking that uses existing telephone wiring, Power Line Networking and wireless networking as Blue tooth, 802.11x, and Home RF are expected to meet consumers' needs for home networking. Home Phone Networking (HPN), a standards-based technology, has met with significant industry support thus far.
