Friday, July 10, 2009

Greece: OTE will use VDSL over existing copper wires to increase broadband speeds

[reuters] Greece's biggest telecom OTE will use copper-wire VDSL technology to boost its broadband internet services and overcome delays in a government-sponsored, 2 billion euro ($2.8 billion) fibre optic plan.

Delivering high-end internet services, such as broadband television, is key in OTE's efforts to compensate for a profit slide in traditional telephony services, as clients switch to new technologies.

"We have decided to proceed with VDSL as quickly as possible as an interim solution," OTE's Chief Executive Officer Panagis Vourloumis told reporters on Thursday.

A government plan to connect more than half of Greece's homes to an optic fibre network by 2013 has hit bureaucratic delays, forcing OTE to consider alternative solutions.

"We cannot wait any longer," Vourloumis said, "We do not yet have the capacity to download a lot of material, the priority right now is to widen our avenues," Vourloumis said.

VDSL, shorthand for "Very High Bitrate DSL", uses copper wires originally installed for conventional telephony, to carry sophisticated applications such as high-definition television. VDSL costs a fifth of fibre-to-home solutions and will allow bandwidths of up to 50 Mbps, or millions of bits per second.

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Europe's third-biggest telecommunications company by market value, owns 25 percent of OTE, southeast Europe's largest telephony company. DT will later this year increase its stake in OTE to 30 percent.

Greece's OTE to use VDSL for broadband expansion

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