READ MORE ABOUT ADSL

IMAGINE downloading a 10-megabyte file from the Internet in less than 10 seconds using a conventional phone line. Far fetched? Think again.

France's Alcatel is working on a major marketing pitch to get the country's telecommunication carriers and Internet service providers interested in its asymmetric digital subscriber line, or ADSL, solutions that allow high-speed Internet access over existing copper networks.

Alcatel vice president for the Asia Pacific Frank Christiaens said in a news conference last week that with ADSL, a carrier or an ISP can offer Internet connection speeds of up to 25 megabytes per second without replacing their copper lines with fiber optic cables or installing expensive routers, switches and other equipment.

ADSL augments the capacity of copper networks so that these networks can transmit data faster, allowing Internet surfers to enjoy graphics- and audio-intensive applications that aren't possible with today's slower access technologies.

"ADSL is the most cost-effective solution to offer all these new applications to the mass market. All that a PC user needs is a new modem. On the carrier's end, all a carrier has to install is a rack of modems and some equipment," Christiaens told journalists.

Alcatel's family of ADSL solutions for LMDS, wireless and cable service comes with services as managed Internet protocol access and managed voice-over-IP access. Its "POP-in-a-box concept" integrates narrowband, broadband and voice-over-IP in a universal access gateway.

Multiservice switch-router solutions process this traffic at gigabit and terabit volumes, seamlessly integrating IP, frame relay and ATM packets.

To manage traffic flow and services in accordance with quality agreements, Alcatel supplies its Service Management Center, already supporting more than 10 million Internet users. The SMC's intelligence extends to gatekeeper functions as well as SS7 and Intelligent Network gateways. When the market asks for IP virtual private networks, behind managed firewall protection, Alcatel's Fort Knox Policy Router is ready to provide the required service level. To host websites, which are often a speed bottleneck, Alcatel offers Layers 3 and 4 switches along with URL switches.

Local Alcatel officials said they are holding talks to convince the country's major carriers to switch to Alcatel's family of ADSL solutions.

One company executive said Alcatel should be able to roll out its first line of ADSL modems here by the third quarter of the year.

The company's line of Speed Touch modems currently offers access speeds of between 8 and 25 megabytes per second.

Alcatel is currently working on making VDSL (very high-speed DSL) technology possible. This will transform existing telephone twisted-pair access networks into an information superhighway with speeds of up to 58 megabytes per second. It will support symmetrical and asymmetrical services, including digital video broadcasting, interactive video, LAN interconnection, teleworking and high-quality videoconferencing.

Christiaens said Alcatel's aggressive push into the xDSL markets is part of its thrust to reshape itself into "a real data-focused company."