QS, actually, one of the first intended uses of DSL in a broad-based setting was, ostensibly, TV. During the period '93-94 through '96 extensive tests and field trials were conducted yielding poor results at best.
The technology wasn't ready for it (some will argue that the outside plant wasn't, either, and in many cases they'd be right). Therefore dsl remained a nonstarter, or in a state of limbo, until only recently when the need for faster links for Internet access began to mushroom.
Since then 'net access has been the major impetus behind it, although some variants of DSL are being used for TV, like very high speed DSL (VDSL) over twisted pair and in some cases, coax... but these are usually embedded processor functions in larger architectural network elements, and they represent an exception to the rule at this time.
In those relatively few instances, comparatively speaking, when VDSL is used for TV delivery, it is usually part of a larger template architecture like fiber to the curb (FTTC), whereby short runs of t-p or coax, on the order of only a couple thousand feet or less, are run from a pedestal or a controlled environmental vault (CEV) to the customer's location.
We wont see xDSL (and it will probably be VDSL) on the uptake for TV until the ILECs or some enlightened others move their fiber a lot closer to the residence, and even then, it's difficult to assess at this time if there is a likelihood of that happening any time soon. |
