AT&T Pushing Wideband Video over Twisted Pair - The Next Threat to HF Radio?

[AJ1G]

Just caught a press release that AT&T will be deploying wideband video over phone line technology.  Another BPL interference debacle in the making?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Since you didn't provide any link to this press release, the only thing I found on the AT&T web site was this:

"AT&T U-verse — The new AT&T suite of IP-based (Internet Protocol) products and services is expected to launch in mid-2006 under the U-verse brand and includes integrated next-generation television (IPTV), high-speed Internet access and Voice over IP services. Delivery of these IP services will be made possible by Project Lightspeed, a multibillion dollar initiative to drive fiber closer to customers in the traditional 13-state SBC local service region, and develop and deliver IPTV and other new-generation services."

Project Lightspeed is definitely "fiber to the consumer door" technology.

Also note this statement in another area of their web site: "AT&T Selects 2Wire Residential Gateway for AT&T U-verse"
"2Wire" is not "twisted pair" notation; it's the name of a Company.

[John Holotko]

Verizon is alreadyplanning to do this with their FIOS (Fibre Optic) technology. They are currently running fibre right to the home for broadband Internet service but they are also planning to expand the services to include TV and other media.

I would be hard pressed to even imagine that AT&T would even be thinking of running Wideband TV over the copper twisted pair. It's slow enough as it is trying to run Internet over a modem. I think it is as Pete describes above, to be deployef primarilly via fibre,

Nope, the biggest HF threat is still primarilly and exclusively connected to the idea of powerline BPL.


 

[W3SLK]

FIOS is being run about 1000 feet from my drop. But it isn't coming this way I still have twisted pair copper to the central office about 4 1/2 miles away.

[W9GT]

The new fiber systems being introduced by Verizon and others will be a real improvement over DSL and other copper-based services.  However, even if the phone companies run wide band services over their copper facilities, those facilities are considerably different than power lines.  Many telephone cables are shielded, and by nature, they also are balanced, which helps keep things like induced hum out and also helps reduce radiation emitted from the cable.  Power lines were never intended to prevent radiation, thus they become nice big antennas with the BPL fiasco.  Heck, they can't even prevent incidental QRN radiation from power lines, how can they expect to prevent HF digital signals from radiating all over the place?  We can only hope that market forces and the superiority of other competing systems prevent BPL from going much farther.  If the power companies were really smart, they would utiilize their right-of-ways to construct fiber infrastructure and sell it to all the other carriers.  What they want, however, is a piece of the revenue for internet services without investing anything to build new facilities.  What really seemed like a neat concept (using the power line for intenet service), has proven to be a really flawed concept. Even if they notch out the ham band frequencies, what about the disruption to other users of the HF frequencies?

73,  Jack, W9GT

[WA3VJB]

Jack the utilities are smart enough to rent out to cellular telephone companies some selected towers carrying high-tension lines.  I noticed a few years ago the towers nearest the roadway or on hilltops sprouting cellphone antenna systems, sometimes more than one set, representing rival providers like Sprint vs. Cingular vs. Verizon. 

While it makes sense to now add fiber optic to the right-of-way paths, Verizon FIOS seems to be doing just fine regarding access to residential areas by trenching alongside existing cable television, DSL, and conventional metallic telephone lines.

[W9GT]

Paul,

Cell towers are a whole different discussion.  Yes we have similar arrangements here, where the cellular/PCS carriers are leasing tower space from the power companies.  Cell antennas can be found on many other "unlikely structures' like flagpoles at ball fiel;ds and church steeples, etc.

What I was addressing is the fact that the power companies have a great resource in their already existing right-of-ways that other carriers could utilize.  One of the largest obstacles to building fiber networks is the cost of acquiring that right-of-way.  The power companies could build fiber and lease it to others, thereby capitalizing on exiting resources without trashing the HF spectrum as they are with BPL.  I know they are doing this already in some areas....seems like it really makes good sense.

Railroads have a similar largely untapped resouce.  The future of broadband technologies is in fiber!  Wireless systems are largely limited by the laws of physics and only so much available bandwidth.  As user density increases, they will run out of gas.  They do, however, work great for the "last mile" such as WI-FI and cellular based data systems. 

Fiber is particularly attractive for the long-haul, large capacity and virtually unlimited bandwidth.  With the new FIOS type systems, we should have the bandwidth needed for many years to come.

BPL never really made good sense, but the FCC unfortunately acted as willing accomplices in allowing  it to get started.  I hope it will die out as a result of competition from superior technologies.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[John Holotko]

I like the idea of building vast wireless (wifi) networks. Strategic placement of wireless access points, wireless repeaters, etc can be arranged to provide a town or city with wifi access. Wireless bridges or similar devices can tie the wireless network into pre-existing networks. Sort of what people are already doing at home, in businesses and schools but on a grander scale. The only question is, how well will this technology scale in a far as providing access to vast numers of clients. I am sort of new to wireless technology so I am not entirely familiar with it's strengths and limitations yet. But from what I,ve seen so far it llooks very promising.

[Bill, KD0HG]

The power companies were doing that when I worked for one 15 years ago...

That is, replacing the traditional aluminum and steel overhead wires with *hollow* conductors run from pole to pole, the center of which contains optical fiber. Cost? Incredibly cheap. Reliability? Excellent. Safety? Excellent. The glass is an electrical non-conductor.
Why they're not selling the optical bandwidth to customers, instead of using that crappy BPL is beyond me.

..

[k4kyv]

Regardless of whether the data travels by copper or fibre optic, AT&T now lays claim to ownership of all your data that travels over their lines.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/21/BUG9VJHB9C1.DTL

[John Holotko]

Regardless of whether the data travels by copper or fibre optic, AT&T now lays claim to ownership of all your data that travels over their lines.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/21/BUG9VJHB9C1.DTL

Does that mean I own any of AT&T's data that they send over my lines >  Heck, I bought and paid for my networking equipment. If AT&T thinks they're gonna my pipes without paying me they're nuts. Maybe everyone in America should start billing AT&T.