800 Mbps DSL?

More than a decade ago, a highly-placed technologist at Nortel told me, off the record, that "DSL wouldn't work." Of course, that proved to be incorrect.

But several decades ago, some smart technologists at what was then AT&T Bell Labs also told me it was "impossible" to load 40 discrete linear video channels on a single optical transmitter, as cable operators said they needed.

The point is that technological innovation often is possible where the smart guys who know the most are convinced a limit has been reached.

The important thing about 800 Mbps DSL demonstrated in the lab means 100 Mbps using DSL in the real world should be feasible, without a complete telco network upgrade to fiber-to-the-home.

And that, in turn, is crucial in part because it suggests there is a path forward for telco DSL and national broadband plans that call for 100 Mbps speeds, without capital investment that carriers would find difficult to justify.

100 Mbps DSL is Here & 800 Mbps is Around the Corner