New technology allows copper wire to handle 825Mbps data speeds

Oct 26, 2010, 18:32 (2 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Matthew Humphries)

[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for this link. ]

"Network providers face a never-ending battle to keep up with demand from users for bandwidth while at the same time increasing the speed of their overall networks. One of the major limiting factors is that many networks still rely on copper wire rather than the superior fiber optic cabling. The networks therefore have to choose when to make the very expensive upgrade to fiber optic, and where those upgrades should happen first.

"Thanks to some new technological breakthroughs, however, copper wire may be making a comeback. Current download speeds offered to end users range from 2Mbps-50Mbps, but we are all looking towards 100Mbps as the next milestone. While you may think fiber optic would be required for that, Nokia Siemens Networks has managed to employ phantom circuits to boost data-carrying capacity over copper wire to as much as 825Mbps over short distances of around 400 meters."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Scientific American appalled at US broadband, demands line-sharing(Oct 06, 2010)
• Prying Loose the Grip of Broadband Giants(Sep 08, 2010)
• Eircom to cut broadband over illegal downloads(May 24, 2010)
• Who Has Fastest, Cheapest Internet in the World?(Apr 22, 2010)
• Why America's Telecom System Stinks(Apr 20, 2010)