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The next generation of broadband that promises professionals and home users unparalleled surfing and download speeds is poised to gain regulatory approval within weeks for its UK debut. Seamless connectivity and superfast download times are just two of the offerings promised by Be, a Swedish internet firm, eyeing national roll out of next generation broadband ahead of the likes of BT and Cable & Wireless. Its high-speed offering is three times the speed of existing broadband products, 480 times faster than dial-up and is a clone of Japan’s superfast VDSL service. It will initially consist of a 24 Mbit/s internet service. Customers to the forthcoming ADSL2+ package will also enjoy unprecedented connectivity, with unique upload/download times ensuring smoother and quicker capture of music, film and TV programmes than today’s offerings. Moreover, the unveiling of ADSL2+ technology is a bold snub to BT, whose oft-trumpeted 21st century network, based on the same technology and designed for national uptake, remains confined to trial stages. BT recently said it needed six more months to implement “wider network and system developments” to ensure the 21st century network, said to be up to 18Mbit/s, can finish trials in Scotland and emerge for nationwide adoption. This is planned for Autumn this year, but already BT’s broadband products have been outpaced by faster offerings from Bulldog, whose 8Mbit/s package is currently Britain’s quickest high-speed offering. The Cable & Wireless-owned ISP further savaged BT recently by declaring the launch of video-on-demand services (VoD), which from October will be screened over a customer’s net connection. Such a new network will reportedly be able to support increased volumes of data, at broadband speeds of 20Mbit/s, effectively allowing feature films to be downloaded onto a desktop in seconds, rather than minutes. The move from Bulldog comes in the same week that another BT rival, NTL, declared its entire cable modem network would run on 10Mbit/s by the end of 2006. Yet without BT there would be no Bulldog or Be, as the incumbent operator’s infrastructure enables both companies the freedom to build individual networks through LLU (Local Loop Unbundling). Communications giant Alcatel was selected in July to support Be’s ADSL2+ technology with systems that triple the downstream bandwidth compared to conventional ADSL, in a deal said to be worth multi-millions of pounds. “The Alcatel solution gives us a real advantage over our [existing] competitors,” said Boris Ivanovic, Be’s co-founder, who launched a 26Mbit/s service in Sweden, after acquiring ISP Bostream. “By working with Alcatel and exploiting its triple play expertise we can deliver the fastest speeds available, with a greater number of features and customer services unmatched by any competitors in the [UK] market.” Alcatel’s solution is one based on the most advanced IP, access and management technologies, capable of offering 24Mbit/s speeds and providing cost-efficient backhauling and aggregation for the massive amounts of broadband traffic expected in the UK. Michel Rahier, in charge of Alcatel's fixed communications activities, said the company is working worldwide to offer “IPTV, high-speed internet and voice services to the mass market.” He added that Alcatel’s portfolio would provide Be “with the end to end solution required to support its aggressive plans for user-centric triple play in the UK.” Aug 16, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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