San Francisco - Telecommunications leaders in Europe and Asia yesterday announced they are joining an industry group whose purpose is to push for wide deployment of high-speed digital Internet access using asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL).
Deutsche Telekom AG, France Telecom, British Telecommunications plc, Singapore Telecommunications, Ltd. and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. of Japan are joining the Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG), which will now have telecom members that control more than one-third of the world's phone lines, according to a statement.
ADSL allows for transmission of voice and multimedia data simultaneously over existing copper telephone lines at rates of 1.544M bit/sec downstream and 640K bit/sec upstream - up to 25 times the current highest speed analog modem technology, the statement said.
The UAWG also includes PC companies - such as Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. - and networking companies, in addition to telecommunications companies. The group foresees Universal ADSL modems being the preferred PC Internet access technology in North America by 2000, and internationally thereafter.
