RBOCs, DSL Forum join home networking initiative

Verizon, SBC Communications, BellSouth and Bell Canada today all joined the DSL Forum’s budding home networking initiative, designed to spur adoption of DSL-based home networks and standardize networking components and applications among carriers.

The DSLHome initiative is taking a two-pronged approach toward promoting DSL as the access element of a home network: education and standardization, said Bob Escalle, Texas Instruments strategic planning manager and the Forum director spearheading the project. The Forum believes home networking will create demand for broadband--specifically DSL--while DSL-based services such as video on demand and music downloads will spur the demand for network elements such as set-top boxes and digital media players that support them, Escalle said.

“We have to get past the dumb big pipe perception of DSL,” Escalle said. “We want to create absolute value in broadband, the perception that DSL is something you can’t live without.”

DSLHome’s first objective, however, is education. It plans to introduce a series of consumer white papers describing how home networking can be built off of a DSL connection and how to configure those networks and accompanying applications. The Forum plans to bring that education to all aspects of the value chain, educating salesmen in computer stores and carrier customer service and sales people as well as consumers themselves.

Secondly, the DSLHome initiative is pursuing technical specifications for networking gear and new products that will make interoperability standard among all devices, starting with network devices like set-top boxes and audio servers and later moving to the DSL gateway. In many ways, the DSLHome forum will adopt standards similar to Wi-Fi ensuring any product designed under the DSLHome banner will work with any the DSL services of all of carriers participating.