An international standards group has approved a new DSL standard that claims it will increase DSL technology's upstream and downstream speeds to as much as 100 megabits per second, 10 times faster than the DSL speeds that are offered by today's carriers.
According to a statement released by the ITU, the new standard will boost the competitiveness of DSL providers by allowing them to offer services such as high-definition TV (HDTV), video on demand programming, video conferencing, high-speed Internet access and advanced voice services like voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) which will all be provided over standard copper wires.
"This new standard is set to become an extremely important feature of the telecommunications landscape, and is a landmark achievement for our members, many of whom are relying on this recommendation to take their businesses to the next level," Yoichi Maeda, chairman of the ITU group that developed the new standard, said in a statement.
It is expected to take a few years before this new standard will be released to the general public.
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