A Canadian firm called Genesis Technical Systems has told ISPreview.co.uk that its new bonded DSL Rings technology, a low cost - low power solution that utilises two copper pairs (i.e. two phone lines), could be used by BT to extend the economic life of its existing copper wire based UK telecoms infrastructure "for decades" by delivering broadband ISP speeds of up to 400Mbps; even "over long distances".

On the surface this might not seem like much of a step forward, especially after Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) recently claimed a DSL broadband speed of up to 825Mbps over existing copper (distance of 400 metres), not to mention Huawei's 700Mbps (here and here). However in an exclusive interview, Genesis informed us that DSL Rings is a far cheaper and more practical solution.


DSL Rings can apparently be installed for approximately 5% of the cost of Fibre-to-the-Home ( FTTH ) fibre optic broadband, which Genesis claims is the only other technology capable of offering bandwidths on this order. FTTH speeds traditionally reach up to 100Mbps (symmetric), although 1Gbps (1024Mbps) is possible.


The technology itself is deployed in a RING configuration and uses three existing telecom standards, RPR, VDSL2 and G.Bond. Genesis believes that its ability to sustain 400Mbps over long distances could also help to "accommodate rural needs", which have often felt excluded by other DSL innovations that only work with shorter runs.

We were curious to know how well these DSL Rings would do over specific distances, such as 400 metres (like the other solutions). Cooke noted that, under "real" conditions, in "telco labs" Genesis has been able to achieve well over 300Mbps, combined upstream and downstream (i.e. 150Mbps in each direction), with a system that can be powered from the exchange (read: no mains power, cabinets, batteries and HVAC systems required).


At present Genesis hopes to have a finished solution available in 2011. In theory it could be adopted into BT's existing 40-60Mbps FTTC infrastructure for a significant speed boost, which would appear to bode well for the future.

However BT currently has no known plans to enhance its recently launched FTTC service beyond an eventual speed boost up to 60Mbps. The fact that such solutions also tend to require two phone lines, and all the extra costs that would involve, would still make it a tough sell to consumers.