Posted: 31st Aug, 2005 By: MarkJ
BT is preparing to open up its trial of 8Mbps DSL MAX (ADSL) technology, according to analysts at Ovum. Full wholesale trials are expected to begin in September, although it appears as if fewer may gain the full 8Mbps than first thought:
The key to BT Max is that it allows a business or home user to get the maximum upstream speed that is technically possible on their line. According to Richard Mahony, an analyst with Ovum, this could mean a theoretical upstream speed of 832kbps, compared to the maximum speed of 256kbps offered by ADSL today.
A consumer version will support a maximum uploading speed of 448kbps, while an office version will reach 832kbps. There will also be two 'DataStream' versions, for telcos who want to offer their own customised versions of BT's wholesale products.
All four products will offer maximum download speeds of 8Mbps, but it's understood that BT's early trials of BT Max found that the majority of lines ran at 6Mbps, due to line quality and distance from the local exchange. These factors could also mean that some subscribers are not able to get the maximum theoretical uplink speeds.Presently there's no finalised launch date for the product, although a rough date of April 2006 has been touted. BT is banking on MAX doing better than its troubled SDSL project, which was recently suspended due to a lack of custom. More @
ZDNet.