Fast Net News, DSL Prime, DOCSIS Report

Glen Post of CenturyTel says the time has now come. “Bonding is really working now, it’s being perfected. We have very little of it on our network. You can double your broadband speeds with bonding. It’s a real opportunity for us in the months ahead.” He's talking some IPTV and a faster offering against cable. (via Ed Gubbins)

A second DSLAM port costs $25-75 and the chips for the dual port modem perhaps $15, not too terrible. Nearly all phone networks now have massive amounts of unused copper. BellSouth had ?37% unused five years ago, and with line loss that's probably over 50% today. So if bonding works, it's a natural part of the tool set.

AT&T unfortunately won't benefit because they are using VDSL2 rather than ADSL. Based on promises from chip and modem makers, AT&T expected to deploy bonded VDSL2 widely in 2007 but is just getting into trials now. In 2003 when they designed U-Verse, they expected to need bonding for fewer than 10% of homes. The VDSL2 performance was projected at a solid 25 megabits 3,000-5,000 feet, but hasn't come close. Michael Coe, speaking for AT&T, tells me they estimate bonding will be required on about 25% of lines. The current hope is later this year.