Broadband in the Home

• Authors: K. E. Nolde
• Venue: BT Technology Journal
• Year: 2002

Despite the fact that well over half the population is now served by ADSL-equipped exchanges (at March 2002 there were 1010 exchanges enabled for broadband), the take-up of broadband, particularly in the home, is very low. By March 2002 there were 145 000 customers signed up for broadband; a year ago there were only 40 000. Clearly price is a key factor in the decision-making process and recent announcements from the BT Group lowering the wholesale price of asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) should enable the market to grow more quickly and compete with product offerings from other providers such as cable. However, it is not just about price. To really feel the expenditure is worthwhile, the user must believe that they are getting genuine benefits from the service as they exploit the potential of the additional bandwidth. To do this effectively, some form of home distribution is required. Due to the potential diversity of the services that could be offered, some type of home gateway that is straightforward to install and use is also a necessity. Various solutions exist today which could help fulfil this role, e.g. the PC, a set-top box, a router, etc, but in reality it is likely that all these functions need to be combined in a low-cost, consumer-oriented package. This paper examines the practical problems of installing broadband in the home, the need for a self-install option, the development of a practical home network and the need for a home gateway.