Not only does it rival fiber as a broadband pipe, but it also works in tandem with it, pulling it toward the curb. Unlike ADSL, it is not a Band-Aid but a cure for today's access problem. The industry learned a lot with ADSL, so new DSL solutions are having a much easier time making it to the marketplace. Although VDSL is not hyped like ADSL, important field trials are taking place. At the last National Association of Broadcasters conference, Canadian vendor PixStream Inc. and BellSouth Telecommunications demonstrated interactive digital television over copper telephone wire.
Service providers can take virtually any video source and adapt it to any type of network.
Although VDSL was not the focus, lightning fast speeds sent over a few hundred meters of copper will make applications like this available to consumers within two years, says the VDSL Coalition. The days of conventional broadcast TV are numbered. Consumers with ubiquitous access to Web pages will want the same access to full motion video. Broadcast TV must adapt or die. Like the ADSL industry, it must return to its roots.