Development History
DSL was designed initially to provide video-on-demand and interactive TV applications over twisted-pair wires. Interest in copper-based digital subscriber line services was spurred when fiber-based broadband loops proved to be too costly for widespread deployment. Another boost came with the passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996, which allows local phone companies, long-distance carriers, cable companies, radio/television broadcasters, Internet/online service providers, and telecommunications equipment manufacturers in the United States to compete in one another’s markets. The race to provide broadband bandwidth was on.
In DSL, telecommunications companies see an opportunity to leverage customer demand for faster data access that has resulted from the explosive growth of the Internet and the advent of IP telephony. DSL has the potential to deliver high-speed data access and much more. DSL technology is in the early stages of commercial availability. The key players have agreed on standards and continue to work out interoperability, provisioning, and operations issues.