Eftel to launch Australia's fastest broadband (updated)

by Daniel Long  |  Thursday 27 March 2008
Eftel to launch Australia's fastest broadband (updated)

It looks like the fabled VDSL2+ is not smoke and mirrors after all - Eftel is pushing to launch high speed broadband speeds of 100MBit, which is certain to be the fastest broadband available in Australia if all goes to plan with this year's launch.

Update: We've updated this story, based on comments by Rick Swancott below. The original story is here.

Eftel, the Western Australian based ISP - is turning to the VDSL2+ product as a way of creating a competitive advantage among the current crop of ISPs still offering much slower ADSL2+ services.

PC Authority spoke to Eftel's sales and marketing manager Rick Swancott, who told us that the VDSL2+ product will be rolled out nationally in metro areas. "The (VDSL2) technology has been tested and is being used overseas currently," he said.

At the moment, Swancott says VDSL2 is "undergoing ratification" so it can be used on Telstra's copper network. This includes the installation of MSANs (Multi Server Access Nodes) in order to prepare the way for VDSL2+ capability.

While VDSL2+ sounds great, the promised speeds of 100MBps might be a little optimistic. "We suspect that VDSL2+ will encounter similar restrictions to ADSL2+ in terms of its performance on the Telstra copper network. Based on this, we believe that we will see achievable speeds of 50 -70 Mbps at 500 Meters from the exchange", Swancott said.

Exchange location will be crucial to data speeds. Swancott added, "Theoretically, you can get 100BNps at the exchange, but it obviously degragates [sic] fairly quickly, the longer you get away from the exchange".

Swancott also shot a poison arrow into competitive naked DSL products, claiming they are " . . . not a major step forward for consumers. It's just a regular DSL service that is a VOIP service over the top. It's not the be all and end all of broadband." Ironically, Swancott admitted that Eftel is also looking into offering naked DSL services in the longer future. "It's on the roadmap," he said.

Eftel is aiming for the VDSL2+ product to be released around the second quarter of this year and interested customers can join up by registering their interest at the Eftel website.

Eftel is also working on extended reach ADSL2+ technologies, that will allow customers further away from exchanges the ability to receive ADSL2+ connections. Some of these customers, Swancottt says, "may never of had access to even regular ADSL before."

Eftel is still testing speeds at distances over 7km from the exchange and is aiming for a launch of extended ADSL2+ as soon as next month. Internode is also planning to launch a similar extended reach product called 'ADSL2 Annex L', in the coming months.

Update: Not surprisingly, the huge potential speeds of VDSL2+ are raising eyebrows. We've been contacted by readers questioning the claimed speeds of VDSL2+, with one reader arguing "100Mbps is the maximum available under the standard - when the VDSL2 standard is ratified for use in Australia it's likely to have a maximum allowable speed of around 45Mbps."

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See more about:  eftel  |  challenge  |  market  |  australias  |  fastest  |  broadband  |  vdsl2
 
 
Comments: 5
Demonopolizer
27 March 2008
 For Heaven's sake, sack your editor and give me the job. The spelling and grammar in this article is appalling. Sentences like "Were suspecting VDSL2+ speeds to be similar..." belong in primary school. And since when is "degrogate" a word?! Call me picky but this does nothing for the magazine's credibility.


What do you think about the PC Authority article Eftel to launch Australia's fastest broadband?
It looks like the fabled VDSL2+ is not smoke and mirrors after all - Eftel is pushing to launch high speed broadband speeds of 100MBit, which is certain to be the fastest broadband available in Australia if all goes to plan with this year's launch.

What do you think?
William Maher
28 March 2008
 Thanks for the feedback. Not surprisingly, some people are cynical about the speeds being hyped for VDSL2+. We've updated the story with one reader's comments. As for the wording, we've left Rick's quotes as-is - they're his words, not ours.
simon
28 March 2008
 With due respect to EFtel, who don't appear to have installed DSLAM's as yet, I struggle to see how they can be " the middle of a ratification process through Telstra exchanges" regarding VDSL2 in particular.

I imagine they're in the middle of the learning curve on how to install DSLAM equipment in exchanges in general - that makes sense - but (as per the rest of my comments) that really can't include any active VDSL2 deployment at this point - as at this point it simply isn't legal to turn that mode on.

To explain that in more specific terms, I wonder whether EFTel is aware that:

- The Communications Alliance (formerly ACIF) controls the development of standards for deployment on the Australian copper line network (rules that apply to all telecommunications carriers operating on that network).

- It is not legal to enable VDSL2 mode on the Australian copper line network until or unless it is added to the CA/ACIF C559 deployment mode standards by CA (Communications Alliance), and then not before this update to C559 has been duly registered by ACMA as a legally enforceable access code.

- There is a CA working group actively considering the potential addition of VDSL2 to the list of acceptable/supported copper line deployment modes, and that group has been working on the code changes for quite some time; That process is not immediate - indeed its reasonable based on past experience to expect the process to take several months, if not a year or more, between now and being fully completed. There are a variety of quite complex issues under consideration in this regard, some of which are (understandably) inter-related to the current Federal Government intention to tender for the construction of an FTTN network (re)using the same copper access network, and other issues related (accordingly) to how to best support interworking between ADSL2+ in exchanges and VDSL2 in future 'Nodes'.

- Internode is an active member of the appropriate CA working group, and more importantly, and curiously, given this press release, Eftel is *not* involved in the very working group that (in effect) controls the ability for them (or anyone else) to legally launch VDSL2 services in Australia.

I'm intrigued to see how EFTel feel that its going to be viable to release VDSL2 services in Australia ahead of their standards ratification, and without EFtel actually being involved in that ratification process!

VDSL2 is not rocket science - its essentially just the next advance after ADSL2+; Internode used the appropriate CA processes to work through the addition of the 'Annex M' deployment mode a few years ago.

But the issues noted above mean its not a walk in the park either - there are a lot of complex issues that the working group is considering in order to ensure that the future integrity and pro-compeitiveness of the copper access network is preserved.

I make these comments from a position of experience - Internode were involved with the CA/ACIF work to enhance C559 to support ADSL2+, and then subsequently Internode drove the formation and development work to add support for Annex M (high speed upstream) ADSL2+ services to the supported and registered deployment modes for use on the network.

I am left with the obvious conclusion - that EFTel surely mean well here, but perhaps their research regarding the legal and technical barriers to releasing VDSL2 services in Australia may be somewhat larger than they have yet appreciated. And as a result, their declaration of imminent victory may be somewhat premature.

Regards,
Simon Hackett
MD, Internode
Rick
31 March 2008
 Unfortunately William, most of the “quotes” that have been included in this article are incorrect.

I’ll correct them here.


"It's a tested technology, and will be unique to Australia".

>>>> What I said was “the (VDSL2) Technology has been tested and is being used overseas currently.“ It is certainly not unique to Australia and has not been installed at any exchanges as yet.


At the moment, Eftel is in the middle of a ratification process through Telstra exchanges.

>>>> What I said was “VDSL2 is currently undergoing ratification so that it can be used on Telstras copper network” Once the communication alliance complete the ratification process EFTel will be able to bring the Technology to market very quickly and with relatively little expense.

This includes the installation of MSLANs (Multi Server Access Nodes) in order to prepare the way for VDSL2+ capability.

>>>> Just a correction,
They are called Multi - Service - Access Nodes (MSAN)’s – EFTel’s MSAN’s are able to support ADSL, ADSL2+, SHDSL, VOIP, POTS and VDSL2 services. This is the technology that is replacing the need to install DSLAM’s. As Simon Hackett rightly points out EFTel have indeed not installed any DSLAM’s. We have however installed a number of MSAN devices in exchanges along the east coast of Australia. For providers that have invested in DLSAM’s to upgrade to VDSL2 is likely to be a very expensive exercise.

While VDSL2+ sounds great, the promised speeds of 100Mbps might be a little optimistic. "We were suspecting VDSL2+ speeds to be similar to ADSL. We did tests that show speeds around 50 - 70mbit, 500 meters from the exchange and then this will drop substantially the further you move it," Swancott said.

>>>> What I said was “We suspect that VDSL2+ will encounter similar restrictions to ADSL2+ in terms of it’s performance on the Telstra copper network. Based on this we believe that we will see achievable speeds of 50 -70 Mbps at 500 Meters from the exchange. “
DL
31 March 2008
 Rick, thanks for your helpful feedback. The corrections have been posted and were always keen to improve the source of our stories. Thanks for your assistance. regards - Daniel Long.
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