ADSL had its day, cable-TV Internet its future

ADSL has become too old after 10 years of existing, and experts believe that it would be replaced by the latest technologies such as cable-TV Internet, 3G mobile broadband of FTTH (fiber to the home). Insight from Vietnam Net online newspaper.
ADSL has become too old after 10 years of existing, and experts believethat it would be replaced by the latest technologies such as cable-TVInternet, 3G mobile broadband of FTTH (fiber to the home). Insight fromVietnam Net online newspaper.

Users getting tired of ADSL

ADSL first turned up in Vietnam in 2003, followed by a hot developmentperiod with a 100 percent year-on-year growth rate. However, the ratehas not been satisfactory in recent two years, which shows the signs of aregression period.

Meanwhile, the latesttechnologies have shown their outstanding advantages over ADSL. The 3Gmobile broadband technology, for example, has outstanding features interms of the coverage and investment rate if compared with ADSL.

The investment rate for a broadband mobile subscriber is about 50 USDonly, while that for an ADSL subscriber is 150-200 USD.

With such a high investment rate, telecom groups, except VNPT, wouldnot have adequate capital and strong infrastructure enough to obtain thelarge coverage throughout the country.

Meanwhile, with 3G or the cable TV transmission network, it would be cheaper and easier to obtain the nationwide coverage.

In the past, with the advantage of high-speed bandwidth, the ADSLtechnology drove the dial-up technology to death. And now, it is thetime for ADSL to end its days to give place to more advancedtechnologies.

Experts attending the dialogue on thefuture of the Internet economy on December 4, 2013, all said that theADSL service quality is low and unstable currently. They said theybelieve that ADSL won’t be able to satisfy users in the future when thedemand for Internet content and Internet service quality increase.

Cable TV-based Internet - a new choice

Users need a technology and Internet product which are much better than ADSL. And the answer is fiber optic Internet.

However, experts believe that fiber optic Internet might not be theright solution for now because of its overly high expenses. The monthlysubscription fee of 1 million VND is unaffordable to the majority offamilies.

The alternative solution for now is theInternet services on the platform of cable TV. While the technology hasbeen utilized for a long time in the world, it remains unfamiliar inVietnam and only turned up not a long time ago when televisions andtelcos joined hands in cooperation projects.

Thebiggest advantage of the technology is the high speed, 5-10 times higherthan ADSL. VTVnet, for example, offers the maximum upload/downloadspeed at 40 Mbps, the figures unreachable by ADSL subscribers.

Cable TV-based Internet uses DOCSIS 3.0 technology, which hasoutstanding features. Users can both watch TV and access Internet at thesame time on the same cable. The transmission is stable thank to thenetwork combining fiber optic and coaxial cable.

With the outstanding features, the technology can well serve theinteractive data services, including distance training, video watching,teleconference, etc.

Especially, the TV cable-based Internet services are really very competitive if compared with ADSL.

A senior executive of CMC Telecom said that the services do not aim tocompete directly with ADSL. These just bring to customers a new choicefor their Internet use, when the coverage of cable TV in big cities iseven larger than telephone fixed line.-VNA

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