International vendors band together on interoperable VDSL

Four international broadband DSL equipment and chipset vendors--Nokia, Ikanos Communications, ZyXEL Communications and Hyundai Networks--have banded together to develop interoperable end-to-end networks based on VDSL-DMT [very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line-discrete multi-tone] technology.

“Carriers cannot deploy services to mass markets without multiple interoperating equipment, especially on the CPE [customer premises equipment] side,” said Richard Sekar, marketing vice president for chipmaker Ikanos. “Nokia and Hyundai have DSLAMs and Hyundai and ZyXEL have CPEs that interoperate with Nokia. All the DSLAM vendors have multiple CPEs.”

All these pieces, he added, need universal chipsets in their foundation, because, if there is a flaw at the systems level, carriers won't be able to take advantage of the interoperability.

VDSL, while not taking off in the U.S., is a hot international technology, but interoperability is essential to driving penetration, said Graham Ellis, marketing director for Nokia Broadband Systems.

“Offshore, definitely, there are large operators into it now in Korea and Japan. China is a market that has stated that VDSL is a technology they want to have. In Europe, there are several operators looking and trialing the technology,” Ellis said.

The U.S., he said, lags because its loops are slightly longer and the expense of shortening those loops to meet VDSL demands is an economic improbability in the current climate.

Nevertheless, Sekar said that the vendors “expect North America to pick up some time at the end of 2003, 2004.” In the meantime, “as far as Ikanos is concerned, the priority is Asia number one, Europe number two and the U.S. number three.”

Ellis compared the VDSL climate with the early days of ADSL.

“ADSL really got going when there was a greater choice of the type of CPEs that would operate with a given DSLAM’s line card. We have a large belief in VDSL needing the same things,” he said.