Is ADSL2+ Really the Future of Broadband or Just a“Nice to Have”?

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Introduction

In the same way that we turn on the tap and expect to be delivered clean water, Internet access is fast being considered another utility; a vital tool that businesses and consumers just cannot operate without. The UK has the most extensive broadband availability in the G7 group, with six million users on the BT network, placing it well ahead of Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and even the US.

According to figures from Ofcom, 40,000 people each week are signing up to broadband, with 35 per cent of the three million dial-up users expected to switch to broadband by the end of 2005. As the growth continues, there seems no end to the massive increase that broadband has experienced in the last three years.

To encourage further growth of the market, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are already pushing broadband enhancements. Here, Sean Stephenson, Head of Products at PIPEX, and Rowland O’Connor, Editor of broadband-help.com, discuss the latest development, ADSL2+, and whether its reputation as the quickest of quick broadband access is really worth all the hype.

What is ADSL2+?

ADSL2+ is an extension of the current ADSL broadband offering and is a new development that has been designed to improve the performance of broadband by dramatically enhancing bandwidth. Increased bandwidth allows enhanced data transfer rates with speeds of up to 24Mbps being reached. Typically, broadband is considered at speeds between 512K and 2Mbps, so ADSL2+ is really for the speed junkies out there.

ADSL2+ will also pave the way for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), which combines the capabilities of the Internet with the technologies of a television set. It enables subscribers to watch high quality television and films using just one high-speed network and receive all of their data, voice and video signals through one pipe.

Availability of ADSL2+

ISPs are beginning to roll out Local Loop Unbundled networks (LLU), which involves taking over BT exchanges and putting in their own equipment. In terms of ADSL2+, this means that as these exchanges are taken over, ADSL2+ will begin to become more available.

The service will initially only be available to subscribers in the London area. However, some operators are attempting to trial the service in other regions to make it accessible to those living in more rural areas.

January 2006 will see the introduction of the ADSL2+ offering from PIPEX. We are investing heavily in the network and are very much looking forward to being able to offer this service to our customers.

But is ADSL2+ really worth the hype that surrounds it?

The benefits of ADSL2+ are that it will reduce modem start up times by around seven seconds and will lower power consumption, as well as the primary advantage of faster download speeds. ADSL2+ also has extensive diagnostic capabilities, which enable problems to be identified and fixed both during and after installation. The troubleshooting devices include the modem’s ability to measure noise levels on the line and fix any trouble that occurs. Prevention of future service failure is also possible with ADSL2+. This is particularly advantageous to businesses, as uptime is essential in a business environment. ADSL2+ therefore enables problems to be resolved with minimum disruption to the organisation.

Whilst there is no denying that ADSL2+ has its advantages, as yet, it will not make a tremendous amount of difference to the average broadband user. Companies who are downloading very large documents or images all day long are more likely to see the value of having the new ADSL2+ service. The extra fast speeds will hugely improve download times across a company network.

In terms of consumer broadband, the buzz surrounding ADSL2+ does appear to be hyped by many ISPs and some of the media.

Conclusion

Despite the benefits that ADSL2+ may have, many applications don’t really demand the extra speed and essentially users are paying for go-faster stripes. Browsing and downloading may be faster, but it doesn’t represent a leap forward in user experience.

Getting ADSL2+ speeds available across the whole country will take time and investment. Until then, we may see two tier availability, with those on traditional broadband speeds in rural areas and towns, and those using super fast speeds in big cities. Since the market generally provides services to the lowest common denominator (e.g. designing websites for dial-up speeds), content that takes advantage of these faster speeds won’t come overnight. This time will be put to good use as ISPs, content providers and broadcasters discuss other thorny issues such as billing and revenue splits.