[AusNOG] VDSL2, was Re: 4G advances

[Mark Newton]

On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 05:43:35AM +0000, Mark Delany wrote:

 > So yeah, I think you're taking about exchange to ISP while I'm talking
 > exchange to premise.

Quite.

 > (I wasn't aware that VDSL is not allowed to be used by ISPs - that's
 > an interesting topic for another thread. Was it a consequence of the
 > NBN or concerns over the state of the copper?)

Predates the NBN.  Carriers with vested interests stonewalling
in ACIF, in exactly the same way they did when ADSL was introduced
in the first place.

(Telstra used to be full of terribly serious engineers who would
vow and declare that ADSL wouldn't work at all in Australia due to 
a variety of wierd-arse unique Australian CAN conditions that they
were never able to adequately explain.  Unbelievably, these people
continued to collect salaries when it was empirically shown that
they were full of shit.  So much so that some of the exact same
people spent years spinning a yarn about how VDSL couldn't work
in Australia due to some weird- arse unique Australian CAN
conditions that they were never able to adequately explain.  If
you're a monopoly, you make money by inhibiting your competitors
rather than by innovating)

 > > Investment plans in access networks were iced when the NBN was
 > > announced, and haven't recovered since.
 > 
 > In retrospect, I wonder whether that's a blessing in disguise? The
 > longer the political dithering, the easier it is to skip a technology
 > step.

That's the same logic that says you should never, ever, ever
commit to upgrading your computer because next month you'll be 
able to get a better one for the same money.

Completely accurate, as long as opportunity costs are zero.

  - mark