Metalink: RBOCs cozying up to VDSL2

VDSL chip vendor Metalink said today during its quarterly earnings call that the Bell operating companies are showing increased interest in the still evolving VDSL2 standard and that when completed the technology will provide performance metrics that are well beyond existing VDSL equipment.

VDSL, or VDSL1, has been used by several independent telcos for early copper-based video deployments but never caught on in the U.S. in part because no standard was ever developed. Asian carriers, particularly in Japan and Korea, though have been adopting the technology rapidly over the past few years. With very short copper loops (less than 1000 feet), VDSL can provide symmetrical service at 100 Mb/s.

Metalink, which reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3.7 million on revenue of $5.7 million, said RBOCs are now pushing aggressively for the ratification of a VDSL2 standard.

“This standard is expected to call for performance which is well beyond current DMT VDSL1,” Tzvi Shukhman, Chairman and CEO of Metalink said during a conference call today.

The vendor is currently working on a VDSL2 product line that will leverage its existing long-reach VDSL deployment.

“On the schedule [for deployment] there are different opinions,” Shukhman said. “If you look around, I think you find a consensus that the standard will be ratified by the end of the year or beginning of next year.”