HELSINKI (Reuters) - Broadband Internet access via TV cables can reach 100
Megabits per second as early as next year, 50 times faster than the average
broadband speeds now offered to cable TV homes, a Finnish firm said on
Wednesday.
Similar data transmission speeds are possible over fibre networks, but
these cost much more for the operators to build.
"This is a cost-efficient technology as we use the cable TV networks which
are already in place," Jukka Rinnevaara, Chief Executive of small-cap
Finnish broadband equipment maker Teleste (TLT1V.HE: Quote, Profile,
Research), told Reuters.
Teleste, whose rivals include big U.S. firms Scientific Atlanta (SFA.N:
Quote, Profile, Research) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile,
Research), said it would early next year bring to the market its Ethernet
to the Home product which will give consumers access to 100Mb/s speed.
The sector is closely followed by big technology firms. Last month Sweden's
Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) offered $51 million to buy
Norwegian firm AXXESSIT (AXX.OL: Quote, Profile, Research), which makes
broadband ethernet access equipment for telecom operators. To accelerate
the transmission speed Teleste fits ethernet -- a cheap and standard
transport method for Internet data over broadband networks -- into cable
television networks.
It said it expects first rival technology to be on the market at the
earliest in the second-quarter of 2007.
Teleste is running a field-trial with cable TV service provider Essent in
Netherlands, but not yet at the top speeds it expects most homes will need
in a few years time.
"Based on our research 30 Megabits per second is the absolute minimum in
future homes. Just one TV program would take 10-20 Megabits per second of
this alone. So, very fast we would reach a need for 30 Megabits, and also
for 50 Megabits per second," Pekka Rissanen, a Teleste executive told a
news conference.
Rissanen said the cost of connecting a home with the new
ethernet-to-the-home technology can vary between 50 euros ($60.28) and 200
euros ($241).
CEO Rinnevaara declined to say how much the new technology could boost
Teleste's sales or profits in the next 12 months.
($1=.8294 Euro) ($1=.8294 Euro)
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