Broadband Internet access via TV cable can reach 100Mb/s as early as next year — 50 times faster than the average broadband speeds now offered to cable TV homes — a Finnish firm announced last week.
Similar data transmission speeds are possible over fiber networks, but these cost much more for the operators to build.
It’s a cost-efficient technology that leverages existing cable TV networks, according to Jukka Rinnevaara, chief executive of broadband equipment maker Teleste, based in Finland.
Teleste, whose rivals include U.S. firms Scientific Atlanta and Cisco Systems, said it would bring its Ethernet-to-the-Home product to the market early next year. The product will give consumers access to 100Mb/s speed.
Super speed broadband is a sector being closely followed by big technology firms, Reuters said. Last month, Sweden’s Ericsson offered $51 million to buy Norwegian firm AXXESSIT, which makes broadband Ethernet access equipment for telecom operators. To accelerate the transmission speed Teleste fits Ethernet into cable television networks.
The company said it expects the first rival technology to be on the market in the second-quarter of 2007. Teleste is running a field trial with cable TV service provider Essent in the Netherlands, but not at the top speeds it expects most homes will need in a few years.
The cost of connecting a home with the new Ethernet-to-the-Home technology can vary between $60 and $240.
