Broadband Internet access worldwide

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This article details the situation of broadband Internet access around the world.

Broadband subscribers in OECD countries

Broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants, by technology, December 2005 in the OECD. (source)

Rank Country DSL Cable Other Total Total subscribers
1 Iceland 25.9 0.1 0.6 26.7 78,017
2 South Korea 13.6 8.3 3.4 25.4 12,190,711
3 Netherlands 15.7 9.6 0.0 25.3 4,113,573
4 Denmark 15.3 7.2 2.5 25.0 1,350,415
5 Switzerland 14.7 8.0 0.4 23.1 1,725,446
6 Finland 19.5 2.8 0.1 22.5 1,174,200
7 Norway 17.8 2.9 1.2 21.9 1,006,766
8 Canada 10.1 10.8 0.1 21.9 6,706,699
9 Sweden 13.3 3.4 3.6 20.3 1,830,000
10 Belgium 11.3 7.0 0.0 18.3 1,902,739
11 Japan 11.3 2.5 3.8 17.6 22,515,091
12 United States 6.5 9.0 1.3 16.8 49,391,060
13 United Kingdom 11.5 4.4 0.0 15.9 9,539,900
14 France 14.3 0.9 0.0 15.2 9,465,600
15 Luxembourg 13.3 1.6 0.0 14.9 67,357
16 Austria 8.1 5.8 0.2 14.1 1,155,000
17 Australia 10.8 2.6 0.4 13.8 2,785,000
18 Germany 12.6 0.3 0.1 13.0 10,706,600
19 Italy 11.3 0.0 0.6 11.9 6,896,696
20 Spain 9.2 2.5 0.1 11.7 4,994,274
21 Portugal 6.6 4.9 0.0 11.5 1,212,034
22 New Zealand 7.3 0.4 0.4 8.1 331,000
23 Ireland 5.0 0.6 1.1 6.7 270,700
24 Czech Republic 3.0 1.4 2.0 6.4 650,000
25 Hungary 4.1 2.1 0.1 6.3 639,505
26 Slovak Republic 2.0 0.4 0.2 2.5 133,900
27 Poland 1.6 0.7 0.1 2.4 897,659
28 Mexico 1.5 0.6 0.0 2.2 2,304,520
29 Turkey 2.1 0.0 0.0 2.1 1,530,000
30 Greece 1.4 0.0 0.0 1.4 155,418
OECD 8.4 4.2 1.0 13.6 157,719,880
Millions of DSL lines by countries at the end of 2005, compared to the previous year
Worldwide major ADSL operators in number of lines, at the end of the first 2005 half

Africa

Botswana

Botswana Telecom rolled out ADSL in Botswana in early 2006. Current offerings include:

  • ADSL 256/64 Kbps for 187 Pula (~US$28)
  • ADSL 512/128 Kbps for 297 Pula (~US$47)
  • ADSL 768/256 Kbps for 385 Pula (~US$61) [1]

Egypt

ADSL was introduced commercially to Egypt in 2000. The service was offered in select central offices in big cities such as Cairo and Alexandria and gradually spread to cover many more Governorates of Egypt. There are numerous ISPs in Egypt offering ADSL service although only two companies own the infrastructure and the rest are resellers.

Download/upload speeds are typically: (Monthly Cost) (after the 1st of July 2006)

  • 256/64 Kbps at a cost of L.E.95 (~US$16)
  • 512/128 Kbps at a cost of L.E.190 (~US$33)
  • 1024/256 Kbps at a cost of L.E.380 (~US$65)
  • 2048/512 Kbps at a cost of L.E.760 (~US$131)

Estimated Number of subscribers: 100,000 according to a statement by Egypt's Communication and Information Technology minister Dr. Tarek Kamel in Ahram newspaper on Sunday 5 March 2006.

The biggest ISPs are:

Morocco

Operated by Maroc Telecom. The service started as a test in November 2002 before it was launched in October 2003. The service is named Menara. It offers the following options:

  • Menara ADSL 256 Kbps (around €21)
  • Menara ADSL 512 Kbps (around €37)
  • Menara ADSL 1 Mbps (around €45.70)
  • Menara ADSL 2 Mbps (around €55)
  • Menara ADSL 4 Mbps (around €73.50)

The ADSL modem, the installation fees and the first three months are free.

Namibia

Namibia currently has no broadband offering. Telecom Namibia plans to deploy ADSL technology by the end of 2006.[2]

South Africa

The first package, a 512/256 Kbps offering, was introduced in August 2002 by national telecoms monopoly Telkom. Later, in response to growing demand for cheaper ADSL options, two more products were introduced: a mid-range 384/128 Kbps offering, and an entry-level 192/64 Kbps one. On 1 September 2005 Telkom released its 1 Mbps offering.

Products currently available through Telkom SA:

  • 192/64 Kbps for R245 (~ US$34)
  • 384/128 Kbps for R245 (~ US$34)
  • 512/256 Kbps for R362 (~ US$51)
  • 1024/384 Kbps for R516 (~ US$73)

Note: In South Africa ADSL charges consist of two parts: the ADSL line rental (as shown above), charged over and above the regular analogue phone line rental (R100 / US$14) and an ISP account. The price of an ISP account can vary greatly, ranging from R72 (~US$10) for a 1 GB hardcapped account to R2800 (US$400) for unshaped / uncapped access with a static IP address. Caps of 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB and 30 GB are also available through various ISPs.

ADSL prices in South Africa have been decreasing steadily ever since the service was introduced. More dramatic price reductions, mostly as result of consumer action through groups like Hellkom and MyADSL, saw Telkom's ADSL subscriber base climb from 50,000 to 100,000 between February and August 2005. As of January 2006 Telkom has more than 120,000 ADSL subscribers, with demand still strong.

In late 2006, Telkom commenced with trials for 4 Mbps ADSL. They also began phasing out their 192Kbps offering, upgrading subscribers to 384Kbps at no extra charge.

Commercial Broadband over Power Lines services are imminently to be rolled out in greater Pretoria (municipal region of Tshwane), and may undercut the current ADSL prices by a significant margin. [3]

America

Argentina

ADSL first appeared in Argentina in 1998, named Speedy by Telefónica, a Spanish company. Fibertel, a cable provider, remains the most popular, but there are several DSL services, including:

  • Speedy, by Telefónica
  • Arnet, by Telecom
  • Flash, by Ciudad Internet.

In 2004, Arnet announced new plans. Controversy ensued, as in small print it mentioned that it was capped to 4 GB monthly. This plans were never put in practice until late 2005, though they were modified from the original announcements. There are no longer any capped plans. They currently offer from 640/128 Kbps download/upload to 5 Mbps / 256 Kbps (the highest download rate offered in the country) for home users. The uncapped 5 Mbps plan costs 148 AP (Argentine Pesos), about US$ 48 at the current exchange rate, whereas the 2.5 Mbps /256 Kbps plan costs 109 AP or US$ 35. Arnet has been slowly recovering its reputation, which was tarnished amongst connoisseurs due to their 2004 announcement. See: Arnet prices

Both Speedy and Flash have a declining user base, many opting to go the way of Fibertel. Their services are often mentioned to limit P2P download activity. The best connection both ISPs offer is 6 Mbps / 512 Kbps.

The tendency has been towards lowering costs to the public, instead of making investments to offer higher speeds.

Brazil

Communication groups, the Telefónica, Telemar and Brasil Telecom dispute the largest part of the market offered DSL under the telephone copper net. Download speeds vary around the vicinity of 512 Kbps. It is obligatory to contract with an "Internet Access Provider" (Provedor de Acesso à Internet), this being a reason for judicial disputes and controversies. In Brazil, the Internet access companies push for a distinction between an "Internet Access Provider", which provides e-mail accounts and other peripheric services (Terra Networks is an example of Internet Access Provider), and "Physical Connection Provider", which provides the actual physical connection to the Internet (Telefónica is an example of a Physical Connection Provider). Therefore, the role of ISP in Brazil is fulfilled by the physical connection providers, while contracts with "access" providers, who just serve to provide glorified and overpriced e-mail accounts, are typically forced upon the consumers.

Wireless LAN ISPs are each day more common in the interior of the country. In big cities some WiFi hotspots are available. As of November 2005, some cable companies started to offer 2, 4 and 8 Mbps access (without the need of an ISP to connect, but still required under the contract and by law) for the same price as 512 Kbps ADSL connections.

ADSL was successful in Brazil during beta testing, and became popular in 2000, with the main ISPs being Speedy, Ajato and Velox, with typical speeds of around 256 Kbps down and 128 Kbps up. Speeds are now between 300 Kbps to 1 Mbps, with some high end options of 2, 4 or 8 Mbps, but at significantly higher prices. Broadband access is split between ADSL, cablemodem, satellite and radio (publicized as 'radio internet', but it is actually a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO hardware solution), with some WiFi services appearing in 2004.

Currently (Q1 2006) there are ongoing plans for WiMax rollouts in some major cities by the end of the year by TVA, one of the leading cable internet providers.

Broadband Internet is now going through troubled times in Brazil, because of new imposed limitations in the form of data caps with very high charges for additional traffic. The price of a complete ADSL package (ISP + DSL) is currently (as of late 2004) in the region of R$ 90-120 / US$30-40 .

Canada

The following table summarizes residential broadband offerings in Canada (Recent as of August 2006):

Service Provider Basic Standard Pro
Videotron 600 kbit/s down, 128 kbit/s up 5.1 Mbit/s down, 810 kbit/s up 20.0 Mbit/s down, 1.0 Mbit/s up
Cogeco 640 kbit/s down, 128 kbit/s up 10.0M down, 600 kbit/s up 16.0 Mbit/s down, 1.0 Mbit/s up
Rogers Cable 1.0 Mbit/s down, 128 kbit/s up 5.0 Mbit/s down, 384 kbit/s up 6.0 Mbit/s down, 800 kbit/s up
Bell 512 kbit/s down 5.0 Mbit/s down 16.0 Mbit/s down, 1.0 Mbit/s up
Shaw 256 kbit/s down 5.0 Mbit/s down 7.0 Mbit/s down, 1.0 Mbit/s up
Eastlink N/A 5.0 Mbit/s down 10.0 Mbit/s down

The legal definition of broadband in Canada is 1.5 Mbps (megabits per second). This is essetially the bandwidth required to transmit compressed VGA (640x480) video with modest quality. However, in recent years the competition between the major broadband Internet providers has caused frequent increases in the available bandwidth provided to home users.

Regional Canadian ISPs peer through a few major Internet Exchange Points, the most notable of which is the Toronto Internet Exchange. However, these regional networks usually share the same backbones for longer distance connectivity.

The major DSL provider in Canada is Bell. Bell owns and maintains physical layer connectivity through a combination of optical fibre networks, DSLAM and Customer Premise Equipment. Few other DSL providers have comparable network infrastructure and instead use lines provided by Bell through a service called "Dry DSL". ADSL in the predominant technology while VDSL is quickly emerging as the new standard, fueled by the urgency to compete with cable companies in the digital TV market. (Both PPPoE and non-PPPoE networks are operational; an example of the later is a service provided by TekSavvy Solutions Inc. )

For Cable offerings, standard North American DOCSIS based equipment are used.

(listing http://canadianisp.ca ).

Chile

There are 899,964 broadband connections in Chile as of June 2006, according to a quarterly study titled Barómetro de la Banda Ancha made by International Data Corporation Chile and published by Cisco [4]. This is a 51.5% increase from June 2005. The number of home broadband connections is 736,000 (82% of all broadband connections), which is equivalent to a 20% penetration of Chilean households. The Chilean region with the largest broadband penetration rate is the Antofagasta Region with 10.5 per 100 inhabitants, surpassing the Santiago Metropolitan Region (8.3 per 100 inhabitants). The nationwide broadband penetration rate is 5.3 per 100 inhabitants. In the study, "broadband" is defined as a permanent (24-hour) connection with a minimum connection speed of 128 Kbps. Companies offering home use broadband connections include:

VTR, Chile's largest cable company, offers several cable modem plans:

  • 10 Mbps/512 Kbps (5 GB monthly download limit) for US$71.30; a single monthly 5 GB recharge may be purchased for US$8.90 or two 1 GB recharges for US$4.50 each
  • Flat-rate plans of 100 Kbps, 160 Kbps, 300 Kbps, 600 Kbps, 1.2 Mbps and 2.4 Mbps
  • A flexible-speed plan that includes a monthly fee of US$5.20 and a variable fee for each minute connected: US¢2.7 at 128 Kbps, US¢4.5 at 600 Kbps and US¢6.30 at 1.2 Mbps
  • A controlled plan in which a number of minutes (400, 600 or 800) are paid for in advance at a chosen speed (128 Kbps, 600 Kbps or 1.2 Mbps); prices range from US$8.80 (400 min. at 128 Kbps) to US$31.30 (800 min. at 1.2 Mbps) a month; recharges are optional

Telefónica Chile, Chile's biggest phone company, offers several ADSL plans:

  • Flat-rate plans of 128/64 Kbps (US$26.80), 200/64 Kbps (US$37.50), 400/128 Kbps (US$42.80), 600/128 Kbps (US$46.40), 1 Mbps/256 Kbps (US$57.10), 2 Mbps/256 Kbps (US$69.60) and 4 Mbps/512 Kbps (US$80.30), using a USB modem; an Ethernet modem may be used at an extra price
  • A nightly (9 PM to 8 AM) and weekends plans of 128/64 Kbps (US$21.40), 200/64 Kbps (US$26.80) or 600/128 Kbps (US$33.90)

Entel, another major telecommunications company, offers several plans:

  • Flat-rate plans through ADSL of 200/64 Kbps (US$37.30), 600/128 Kbps (US$46.30), 1 Mbps/256 Kbps (US$57) and 2 Mbps/256 Kbps (US$69.50)
  • Wireless radio-based connections of 512/128 Kbps (US$50.90)

Gtd Manquehue offers:

  • Several flat-rate plans through ADSL of 128 Kbps (US$27.50), 200 Kbps (US$37.50), 400 Kbps (US$42.80), 600 Kbps (US$46.80), 1.3 Mbps (US$57.10), 2 Mbps (US$69.60) and 4 Mbps (US$80.30)

Exchange rate used: US$1 = 560 Chilean pesos

Colombia

Broadband internet access has been available in Colombia since 1997. The service was originally charged in American dolars, remaining expensive. The pioneers in broadband access in Colombia were "Andes University" and Cable operator "TV Cable S.A" both based in Bogota, Colombia.

From 1997 until 2001, only the cities of Bogota and Bucaramanga had broadband Cable internet access, although during that time, the service remained expensive and was only available in the richest neighborhoods.

In the year 2001, ADSL Internet access appeared in Colombia. The appearance of ADSL internet access meant a commercial war between the telecom companies and the cable operators (mainly in Bogota and Bucaramanga). For some strange reason, Bogota, the largest city by size in Colombia, and Bucaramanga, the fifth city by size, have been the only cities where Cable and ADSL operators are available throughout the whole city at the same time. Nowadays the fiercest battles to attract broadband users are in Bogota and Bucaramanga.

Medellin, Cali, and Barranquilla, the second, third and forth cities by size in Colombia have only 1 ASDL operator that reaches the city as a whole. Meaning the ADSL operator does not compete in one to one with the cable operators. This means the ADSL operator and the cable operators are not competing directly in those cities meaning the tarifs are higher than in Bogota or Bucaramanga.

With respect to all the cities below, 1 million inhabitants, ADSL broadband access is available through Colombia-Telecom (50% owned by Colombian Government and 50% owned by TELEFONICA from Spain). Because in these cities and towns the only broadband providor is Colombia-Telecom the service remains expensive.

Note: Towns with less than 100.000 inhabitants lack ADSL or Cable broadband access.

In Colombia There are three national ADSL and Wimax Broadband Providers. That have monopoly positions in their respective cities, with the notable exception of Bogota

With respect to Broadband Cable Providers, each one of them is available only in their native city, and constitutes a monopoly in its respective city.

National players

  1. Colombia Telecom (50% owned by the Colombian Government, and 50% owned by TELEFONICA from Spain)
    • Monopoly ADSL Position in all the cities and towns between 1.000.000 million inhabits and 100.000 inhabitants
    • Its also has a minor share of ADSL Access in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla
    • It has monopolic ADSL and WIMAX Access in Bucaramanga
  2. Empresa de Telefonos de Bogota "ETB" (90% owned by the city of Bogota, and 10% owned by private investors)
    • Near monopolic ADSL providor in Bogota
    • Near Monopolic WIMAX provider Armenia, Medellín, Barranquilla, Palmira, Cartagena, Villavicencio, Neiva, Pereira, Ibague, Manizales, Montería, Bucaramanga, Tunja, Santa Marta, Valledupar, Popayán , Cúcuta, Cartago
    • Small WIMAX share in Cali
  3. Empresas Publicas de Medellin "EPM" (100% owned by the city of medellin)
    • Near monopolic ADSL and WIMAX provider in Medellin
    • Small ADSL Share in Bogota
    • Near monopoly WIMAX share in Cali

Regional players

  1. TV Cable S.A.
    • It has a mayor share on the CABLE broadband access in Bogota. This company focuses on the richest neighborhods of bogota, and has found its market niche in the wealthy parts of Bogota, mainly the northern part. Although it is a local player, it is the most tecnologicaly advanced broadband provider in Colombia. It is the first and only company providing TRIPLE PAY (TV+CABLE+TELEPHONE)in Colombia
  2. CableCentro
    • It has a minor share of CABLE broadband access in most of the cities above 100.000 in Colombia
  3. Cable Union de Occidente
    • It has nearly monopolic share of CABLE Broadband Access in Cali
  4. TV Cable Promision S.A (completely unrelated with TV Cable S.A)
    • It has nearly monopolic share of CABLE Broadband Access in Bucaramanga

Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s telecommunication sector appears to be monopolized by two government companies (Grupo ICE and Racsa), but ADSL services are currently being offered by Grupo ICE only.

Price ranges between US$19/month for a 256 Kbps/128 Kbps connection to US$169/month for a 4096 Kbps/768 Kbps connection.

For an updated price list, please check Grupo ICE’s website: [5]

Cable Modem services are offered by two companies - Cable Tica and Amnet.

Price ranges between US$16.95/month for a 256 Kbps/64 Kbps connection to US$168.95/month for a 4096 Kbps/1024 Kbps connection.

For an updated price list, please check CableTica’s website: [6] or Amnet’s website: [7]

Dominican Republic

Although the Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, with almost 3 million cell phones connected (on just about 10 million populants, with 4 million of them on extreme poverty conditions) and large companies like Verizon (US) and Orange (FR) on the telecommunications market, the broadband Internet access is limited, with just 107,543 internet accounts globally. There is access to regular ADSL services only on metropolitan areas, costs are high and service is decent. Cable Internet is offered by a couple of cable companies at lower costs than ADSL but the service is very deficient and unreliable. WiFi hotspots are almost non-existent, with just a few in university campuses and other not-so-public areas.

Mexico

ISPs that provide ADSL:

Telmex started selling ISDN connections under the Prodigy Turbo brand name in the mid 90s. The service has been replaced for a few years now with ADSL connections which are sold under the Prodigy Infinitum brand name and offer connection speeds for home users at:

1 Mbps downstream - 128 Kbps upstream

2 Mbps downstream - 256 Kbps upstream

4 Mbps downstream - 1 Mbps upstream

The costs are $349 MXN (a little over $35 USD), $599 MXN (a little over $55USD), $4,599 (a little over $420 USD) a month, respectively; all tiers of service are uncapped.

Cable companies also offer broadband services though they usually offer many more tiers of service, which tend to be cheaper than TelMex's. The price and connection speeds vary greatly depending on each particular provider

In addition, wireless internet services are offered in the 4 major cities through E-Go (MMDS).

Wi-MAX is available now in the city of Puebla and Cholula through Ultranet2Go.

United States

In the United States, free or community-based WiFi is typically the consumers first choice, where available.

According to an industry trade association, there were 22.5 million cable modem users in the U.S. during Q1 2005, up from 17.4 million in Q1 2004, vs. about 20 million DSL users. Promotional/sign-up prices usually go up after an introductory period, typically 3, 6, or 12 months.

In the United States, many different kinds of DSL services are offered by different companies:

  • ADSL is offered by a variety of providers. The most popular variant is RADSL. Many providers, such as SBC, offer up to 6.0 Mbps/768 Kbps service for home use, at different price tiers from $13 (for up to 1.5 Mbps/384 Kbps) to $80, including the ISP. Others, such as Qwest, offer up to 1.5 Mbps/896 Kbps service for around $33.
  • VDSL is offered by Qwest and is currently used to deliver video services as well as 1.5 Mbps/256 Kbps internet.
  • ADSL pricing is almost universally flat-rate. However, some ISPs charge for the bandwidth used.
  • In many newer locations in the US, the DSLAM is actually installed in the local interface box because many neighborhoods have a fiber uplink to the CO (no copper exists between the CO and the box).
  • 256/256 Kbps DSL is often priced as a "dial-up replacement" service. Typical cost is around $20, including ISP, making the service particularly competitive with higher-priced dial-up ISPs. In many cases, this service is not "always on" and a user must initiate a PPPoE connection to connect to the internet.
  • 8/1 Mbps DSL for business use is available from most providers. Cost is typically around $250 per month, plus ISP fees.
  • 8/1 Mbps DSL for home use is becoming more widely available due to competitive pressures from Cable Internet.
  • Some believe that Cable Internet is more popular than DSL in the US because of a wider potential customer base due to greater capital expenditures, or less regulation, or technical differences. Although cable internet has its share of difficulties, cable internet providers can in most cases offer higher theoretical bandwidth on paper (albeit shared, although in many respects DSL is also "shared"). Some believe these paper claims are naturally used to market is a premium product and undermine the position of DSL. Features, technical support, and actual speed also vary very widely among providers.
  • In recent years Verizon FIOS has slowly become available in areas around the United States. In areas were it is available, competition between Verizon and local cable companies has caused speeds as high as 50/5 Mbps to be available for $90 per month. As FIOS spreads, prices are expected to drop, while speeds increase[1]

Satellite Internet typically involves equipment and installation costs ranging from $300 to over $600 (the FCC requires professional installation to prevent interference issues), and monthly service costs average from $50 to nearly $80, depending on the speed.

Uruguay

In Uruguay, you can access the Internet mainly by using:

  • Modem Dial-up (though not very common as of August 2006)
  • DSL services, provided by the state owned telco company (ANTEL).
  • One of the different Wireless ISP (which have a tendency to be more expensive because of high taxation and radio spectrum licenses costs).
  • There are no access to the internet by means of Cable TV companies as of 2006 in its largest cities or at Uruguay's capital, Montevideo.
  • As an option, some shopping malls and other commercial business offer WiFi access at their location.
  • Cyber cafes are very common throughout the whole country, and very inexpensive (from about U$S 0.4 an hour).

ADSL

ANTEL, a telco company owned by the government, charges U$S 50 a month (about U$S 600 a year) for a 512 Kbps/128 Kbps ADSL service. That is one of the most expensive DSL services in the region (which includes Argentina, Brasil and Chile), while wages in Uruguay might be lower than in said countries. Also, the services dinamically changes the IP address of the customer every 12 hours, making it difficult to use for tele-working. A fixed-IP address service, which offers 1 Mbit download bandwitdth, can cost more than U$S 200 a month. Antel enjoys a monopoly in the basic telephony area, and has successfully prevented other competitors (such as Cable companies) to enter the Internet service provider business. ISP are then forced to use other technologies, such as radio, to get to customers. Usually, the taxation and licensees for radio spectrum are also very expensive, in a way to artificially not allow these ISP to be cost competitive with Antel DSL service. While Antel motto has been that of being a state owned telco, and justifies its monopoly by saying that its purpose is to get affordable advanced services to the Uruguayan people, it has blatlanty not delivered affordable services to its customers, it has remained expensive and with lower quality services in most areas, and has had success in avoiding competition. As of August 2006, Anteldata has the majority of the market share.

Some services by Antel as of August 2006 are:

  • ADSL 512 Kbps/128 Kbps = $U 1278 = U$S 53 a month, or U$S 636 a year. You get two dynamic IP addresses that changes every 12 hours. VAT is included.
  • ADSL 768 Kbps/192 Kbps = $U 1944 = U$S 81 a month, or U$S 972 a year. You get two dynamic IP addresses that changes every 12 hours. VAT is included.
  • ADSL 1 Mbit/256 Kbps = $U 4785 = U$S 199 a month, or U$S 2392 a year. You get a fixed IP address. VAT is included.

The ADSL service is available if you have a corresponding land line with Antel.

Wireless

Dedicado is a local wireless ISP. It appeared before or about at the same time than Anteldata (about in 1999), but since ADSL was not available at the same time on every neighborhood, Dedicado had the majority of the permanent internet connections. As of August 2006, ADSL is available in almost every neighborhood, and Dedicado lost a big market share, both because being more expensive and giving a bad service to their users. They started a big advertising campaign, but didn't pay attention to the technical details related to their amount of users, so their quality of service decreased. In 2005, they started deploying WiMAX services. There are other wireless ISPs, but Dedicado is the main one.

ISPs

The main ISPs in Uruguay are:

Many of those services also have an installation cost, which is equal to one or two months of said service. It is not unusual for some people to get together to pay for one of these services, and share it by using WiFi or Ethernet.

After having successfully implemented a high priced/low speed environment for Internet access, where competitors are either left out (Cable) or forced to lower or more expensive technologies (Dial up, Radio), Antel has started providing packages where Internet access is limited either by a maximum amount of time, or a maximum amount of bytes transferred (20hs access, 60 hs access, 1 GB access, 3 GB Access). After reaching whatever limit that particular plan has, Antel starts charging extra, many times almost up to 20 to 30% more a month than if you had the corresponding (in terms of line bandwitdth) flat rate service.

External links

  • DSL Reports - Extensive site on broadband with user reports from around the USA and Canada

Asia

Brunei

Brunei's internet service is monopolized by a recently corporated company TelBru under their "Brunet" department. ADSL speeds range from 512 Kbps to the maximum speed of 1 Mbps through ADSL broadband. 1 Mbps was only recently introduced in 2006 and priced at BND$308 per month (Equivalent to Singapore currency). The limited market in Brunei means that development in the telecommunications sector is stagnant. Currently only about 1000 users out of a population of 380,000 have any connection to the Internet. However, more and more users are subscribing to 3G Mobile services. Broadband coverage has spanned the whole of Brunei since the release of "E-Speed 2".

Pricing of ADSL service in Brunei

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, as of April 2006 HKBN offers its customers internet access with speeds starting from 10 Mbps (19 USD a month) up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbit/s) (215 USD a month) via Fiber to the Building and Fiber to the Home. However the speed to non-Hong Kong destinations is capped to 20 Mbps. HKBN also provides FTTH plans for speeds up to BB100 (100/100 Mbps) and BB25 (25/25 Mbps), for approximately around US$25 and US$22 monthly. However, only

Major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) include:

  • PCCW Netvigator, with a 95% coverage area and providing internet access to 1.9 million users. ADSL connections at 3 Mbps and 6-8 Mbps are priced differently. Newly constructed apartments have ADSL2 connections, which have speeds up to 18M/1M. Business plans may have plans which speeds up to 1G/1G.
  • HGC ADSL & VDSL broadband of speeds up to 100M/100M.
  • NWT ADSL & VDSL broadband of speeds up to 10M/10M.
  • HKBN CAT5e broadband of speeds up to 1G/1G.
  • One Broadband ADSL broadband of speeds up to 8M/256K.
  • I-cable Broadband Cable Broadband of speeds up to 8M/8M shared by one apartment.

India

BSNL, Sify, MTNL, Airtel, Reliance and Hathway are some of the major ISPs in India. TRAI has defined broadband as 256 Kbps or higher. However, many ISPs advertise their service as broadband but don't offer the suggested speeds. Recently, Airtel and Hathway have begun offering unlimited downloads starting from 64 Kbps. Broadband in India is very costly compared to Western Europe/UK and USA.

An unlimited download 256 Kbps ADSL broadband connection from Airtel costs about $22/mo. The contention ratios are normally very high and uptime suffers due to various infrastructure problems like road digging, water seeping into cables and overhead cables disrupted due to broken trees during monsoons etc.

Due to liberalization in recent years, many private ISPs have entered the market, many with their own local loop and gateway infrastructures. Right now the market is infinite and competition is fierce to lure prospective customers into buying their services. The quality of service is bad for the same reason. The telecom services market is still regulated by TRAI who charges a huge licensing fee for anyone who enters the market which somewhat restricts the easy entry and exit of a service provider from this arena.

Although broadband law of 2004, changed the definition for broadband to 256 Kbps always on, most ISPs found that they can provide broadband with a capping of data that can be downloaded. ADSL providers include:

External links

Indonesia

Template:Weasel-section There are several ADSL providers but the most well-known is Telkom Speedy, a product of Telkom, because it is still the only nation-wide telecommunication operator who invests in copper-cable telephone network. All other providers have to rent networks. With ADSL the maximum speed is 384 or 512 Kbps and monthly data transfer quota is chosen among several packages: 750 MB ($30 /mo), 2 GB ($70/mo), and unlimited ($200 /mo).

Iran

ADSL in Iran appeared in January 2004.

  • Shatel is the first broadband ISP in Iran which offers ADSL2+ and ADSL services for residential and business users in Tehran and other major cities.
  • CTEL Kish is the first broadband ISP in Khorasan which offers ADSL2+ and ADSL services for residential and business users in Mashhad and other major cities.

Israel

ADSL has been available in Israel since the 90s in theory, but it only became practical to an average residential customer in 2002. Since then prices have dropped considerably.

In Israel, every ADSL user has to pay both for the and to the ISP for the service.

The typical connection speed has remained at 1.5 Mbps (with 96 Kbps upstream) for the bulk of 2005 and 2006, although its price has dropped to an approximate $7/month (to the ISP) and about the same for the infrastructure provider. Connections of over 2 Mbps (with a 256 Kbps upload speed) have only been introduced in the summer of 2005 to the mainstream, and are still priced at over $20/month as of September 2006. Maximum speeds currently reside at 5Mbps Down/250Kbps up for maximum download. (A slower 1.5mbps down/512kbps up is available if more upload bandwidth is needed.)

ISPs

Japan

In Japan, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) planned a step-up process from dialup (54 Kbps), ISDN(64 Kbps), to FTTH. Under the plan, NTT had been selling ISDN lines primarily toward private users while corporate users sometimes skipped ISDN entirely and immediately upgraded to the still-expensive FTTH service. In late 1990s, CATV operators began offering their own broadband services, but relatively high initial installation cost and cheaper alternatives limited its spread.

ADSL service started by a venture company, Tokyo Metric in 1999. After this NTT started and some other companies followed. In 2001, SoftBank started ADSL (12 Mbps) service. It was a shocking event, because the price was around only 3000 yen (30US$), which was half of other companies and aggressive marketing campaigns led to capturing large shares of market. Competitors and Softbank each dropped prices in a price war and repeatedly readied higher speed services to entice customers (12 Mbps 24 Mbps, 50 Mbps). In 2004, Japan had the best cost performance ADSL service in the world (50 Mbps, 35US$) which it held on in the successive year.

At the same time, NTT and electric power companies expand FTTH areas. In most urban area, people can use FTTH (100 Mbps, 50US$), but ADSL is still mainstream. However, large discounts and free installation have boosted adoptions. Many new apartments are built to accommodate FTTH service with little or no wiring. In 2005, Kansai Electric Power started 1 Gbit/s FTTH service at 8700yen (90US$).

In September 2000, the MIC (communications ministry) forced Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the incumbent operator, to unbundle its copper local loop. The price was fixed considering the line cost were covered by vocal telephony, alternative operators should only support incremental costs bond to newly offered functions. For the fiscal year 2004, partial unbundling rates were 120¥ per month and 1,300¥ per month for total unbundling.

In 2000, rules for operators colocation inside NTT facilities and lines delivery terms were established. In 2001, NTT were required to unbundle their interconnection optic fibers between exchange points. Finally, It was forbidden for NTT East & NTT West to offer internet access services.

Softbank, a major Nippon ISP, launched in 2001 its DSL service "Yahoo! BB" and massively invest in DSL technology to become in 2003 the largest DSL operator before the incumbent.

In March 2005, DSL had more than 13.6 million customers. The concurrence of FTTH is stronger and stronger, with the arrival of operators like TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), allied to KDDI and NTT. Three millions customers were wired with FTTH in March 2005 and it could supplant DSL in 2007 according to Yano Research (FTTH Market in Japan and its future prospects, 1 September 2005).

The Japanese model of optic fiber deployment is difficult to compare to other markets. The last kilometre is often done in an aerial manner on pylons, shared between operators, even non-telco. This distribution technique reduce the vulnerability to earthquakes and lower costs dramatically.

The unique problem facing Japan's broadband situation is that because of popularity of FTTH, operators struggle to maitain enough bandwidth to let users enjoy their service fully. Even the largest operators have capacities for only tens of Gbits even though customers with FTTH service may number in thousands if not more. This problem is further compounded by limits caused by router.

(source: French regulation authority letter)

Kyrgyzstan

DSL is available in some parts of major cities from the state telephone company, Kyrgyz Telecom. The company also lease lines to private DSL providers such as Elcat. Cable internet is also offered through private companies such a AlaTV. Variable up/download speeds are available and there is typically a monthly cap on the amount of data transferred, with separate caps depending on whether the data stays within Kyrgyzstan or travels beyond the border.

As of September, 2006, Kyrgyz Telecom's rates are as follows:

  • US$33/month - 0.5 GB international traffic, 1 GB Kyrgyz traffic.
  • US$51/month - 1 GB international traffic, 4 GB Kyrgyz traffic.
  • US$95/month - 2 GB international traffic, 8 GB Kyrgyz traffic.
  • US$183/month - 4 GB international traffic, 16 GB Kyrgyz traffic.
  • US$353/month - 8 GB international traffic, 32 GB Kyrgyz traffic.

All packages offered by Kyrgyz Telecom operate at the same data rate: up to 8.0Mpbs.

Malaysia

As of June 2006 there are 580 thousand subscribers mainly ADSL connection.

The only consumer fixed-line broadband service provider is TM Net, a subsidiary of TM (Telekom Malaysia). This service is branded as Streamyx.

512 Kbps Unlimited by Telekom RM 66 per month

1 Mbps RM 88 per month

Philippines

Template:Wikilink-date In the Philippines, broadband internet is usually available to consumers through 2 methods: cable and DSL. Cable Internet is offered through companies such as ZPDee Cable, Destiny Cable and Parasat Cable, usually starting at 64 Kbps. PLDT, BayanTel, Globe and Eastern Telecom (ETPI) offer DSL starting at 128 Kbps up to 5 Mbps. Broadband internet is also widely available at public internet cafes and offices, especially in major cities. Wireless (WiFi) broadband internet is progressively being rolled out in coffee shops, malls and major airports around the country.

Last 2005, Smart Communications launched "Smart Wifi", which, contrary to its name, does not make use of WiFi. The service offers wireless fixed broadband through the use of Motorola's Canopy equipment. The service was later rebranded as "Smart Bro" on April 2006.

Providers:

  • BayanTel, through SkyDSL, offers SDSL from 256 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps.[8] They also offer cable internet from 64 Kbps to 1 Mbps through ZPDee. [9]
  • ETPI offers SDSL from 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps.[10]
  • Global Destiny Cable, better known as Destiny Cable, offers Cable internet in either a 60-hour or unlimited package and also offers SDSL services up to 3 Mbps.[11]
  • Globe Telecom, through its subsidiary Innove offers ADSL from 384 Kbps to 1 Mbps. [12]
  • PLDT offers ADSL from 512 Kbps to 5 Mbps.[13]

Qatar

ADSL launched 2002 in Qatar provided by Qtel with 25000 ADSL users Ref

Speeds:

  • ADSL 512 Kbps $55/Month
  • ADSL 1 Mbps $83/Month
  • ADSL 2 Mbps $111/Month

Links: Qtel Site Qatar Internet Site

Oman

ADSL launched 2005 in Oman provided by Omantel and it's the only ISP there.

Speeds:

  • ADSL 384 Kbps For Home Users :
Monthly ADSL Line Rent = 12 R.O ($32) + 1 R.O ($2.6) per 1 GB down/upload.
Unlimited Down/upload = 12 R.O + 27 R.O = 39 R.O ($102) Monthly.
  • ADSL 512 Kbps Only For Schools :
Monthly Unlimited Use = 20 R.O ($52).
  • ADSL 1 Mbps Only For Government & Business :
Monthly ADSL Line Rent = 120 R.O ($313) + 1 R.O ($2.6) per 1 GB down/upload.

Links: Omantel Website

Saudi Arabia

ADSL service in Saudi Arabia has become available since 2001. As part of its monopoly on all methods of communication in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Telecom Company is the only complete provider, though several ISPs are available, with the permission of STC.

STC is highly criticized for providing slow and expensive ADSL services with poor reliability. 512 Kbps is currently the maximum internet speed that STC provides for home users. Customers are forced to pay outrageous fees to STC in addition to the payment provided to internet service providers. Also, STC has demonstrated a bad reliability of its DSL connections as these lines frequently get disconnected for maintenance and troubles.

Available ADSL speeds with typical monthly prices:

  • 64 Kbps at cost of SR90 (~US$24) for ISP + SR90 (~US$24) for STC.
  • 128 Kbps at cost of SR150 (~US$40) for ISP + SR90 (~US$24) for STC.
  • 256 Kbps at cost of SR250 (~US$67) for ISP + SR100 (~US$27) for STC.
  • 512 Kbps at cost of SR420 (~US$112) for ISP + SR120 (~US$32) for STC.

There are around 20 Internet Service Providers in Saudi Arabia, all of which are connected through one main provider of KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology).

There were several reasons for the service being unpopular, in particular the thought to be unreasonably expensive prices and alleged low-quality service. The service is becoming more popular as the service fees are being lowered.

Singapore

Singapore as a small densely populated island nation is the pioneer, and continues to be one of the few countries in the World in which broadband internet access is readily available to just about any would-be user anywhere in the country, with connectivity over 99%. In a government-led initiative to connect the island in a high-speed broadband network using various mediums such as fibre, DSL and cable, the Singapore ONE project was formally announced in June 1996, and commercially launched in June 1998. By December 1998, Singapore ONE is available nationwide with the completion of the national fibre optics network.

In 1997, commercial trials for Singapore Telecommunications' (Singtel) ADSL-based "SingTel Magix" service were undertaken in March, before being launched in June. Also in June, Singapore Cable Vision commenced trails for its cable modem based services, before being commercially deployed in December 1999. Singtel's ADSL service was subsequently rolled out on a nation-wide scale in August 2000.

In January 2001, the Broadband Media Association was formed to promote the broadband industry. By April the same year there were 6 broadband internet providers, with the total number of broadband users exceeding 300,000. Pacific Internet introduced wireless broadband services in October 2001.

ADSL providers in Singapore include:

South Korea

South Korea one of the highest penetration rates for broadband in the world (23.17 per 100 inhabitants at the end of December 2003). In January 2004, the total number of Internet users in Korea reached 28.6 million - 62% of the population. The vast majority of South Korean broadband users subscribe to ADSL, though cable modem usage has increased significantly since 2004.

South Korea leads the number of DSL connections per head world-wide. ADSL is standard, but VDSL has started growing quickly. ADSL commonly offers speeds of 2 Mbps to 8 Mbps, with VDSL accordingly faster. The large proportion of South Korea's population living in apartment blocks helps the spread of DSL, as does a high penetration of consumer electronics in general. Special "Cyber" Apartment buildings have speeds of up to 100 Mbps at about 30000 Won a month (US$30). VDSL is commonly found in newer apartments while ADSL is normally found in landed properties where the telephone exchange is far away. The Internet has a higher status for many Koreans than it does in the West, and the government actively supports this.

Sri Lanka

ADSL was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2003 by provider Sri Lanka Telecom.

The average speed is 512/128 Kbps, costing Rs. 2250 per month for an unmetered flat rate. This is the standard for SLT and resellers. Faster connections up to 2 Mbps are available, but the price is considerably higher (Rs. 6500 for 2 Mbps).

The service is available within the Greater Colombo area, Kandy and Galle.

Europe

Belgium

ADSL first appeared in Belgium in 1999, named Turboline. The first network was set up by Belgian telecom operator Belgacom and has been expanding ever since. In 2004 nearly 90% of the entire territory has access to ADSL from Belgacom. Belgacom daughter company Skynet was the first officially supported ADSL provider, but now many more have gained popularity. Download speed is usually capped around 4 Mbps, though faster services are now becoming available (including 9 Mbps VDSL from Skynet). Many ISPs, notably Skynet, have bandwidth caps in place to limit the amount of data users can transfer through their connection.

Alongside the Belgacom ADSL network, Scarlet has created a secondary network, with higher download and upload rates, sometimes up to the maximum 8 Mbps. Several providers use this network, like Scarlet and Adsl2Fit.

Belgium also has a cable network, started by Telenet in 1997 and covering almost all of Flanders. Speeds vary from 20 Mbps to 512 Kbps down. It also has a monthly transfer limit.

Bulgaria

ADSL was introduced in Bulgaria after the privatization of the state monopoly BTC (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company) in 2004. Since then the availability has been widely increased and today (February 2006) it is offered in 140 towns and villages around the country. With the liberalization of the telecommunications market it is expected that other companies currently offering broadband Internet by other means will begin offering ADSL in the near future. The BTC price of the most popular packages as of February 2006 is as follows:

  • 512/128 Kbps, Unlimited, - ~€15
  • 1024/256 Kbps, Unlimited, - ~€41
  • 2048/512 Kbps, Unlimited, - ~€51

A map of the service areas can be seen at: http://www.telecom.bg/en/residential_details.php?sel=0&cat=25 (flash required)

Mainly in Sofia there are many internet providers, that have build their own MAN's. They offer very fast and cheap Internet (12Mb-30$ 5Mb-7$), so that every user in the city have broadband access to Internet

Croatia

In Croatia ADSL became available in 2000. It is controlled by monopoly operator T-Com [14], which is former HT (Hrvatski telekom meaning Croatian telecom). Local loop is expected to be unbundling after 01.09.2006. so we will se 2-3 companies offering ADSL2+ Internet Access and TriplePlay.

Prices :

  • 1024/192 Kbps from 11 euros + data package
  • 2048/256 Kbps from 28 euros + data package
  • 3072/384 Kbps from 51 euro + data package

data packages

  • 1024 MB 3 euros
  • 5120 MB 8 euros
  • Flat rate 28 euro

How ever in Croatia is also available Cable Internet. Its not so wide spread as ADSL. There are 4 Cable internet providers.

Prices:

DCM d.o.o. [15]

Xnet Cable Internet

Unlimited package* - with fair usage policy

  • Mistral Light 128/90 Kbps - 13 Euro
  • Mistral 256/128 Kbps - 20 Euro
  • Scirocco 512/160 Kbps - 32 Euro
  • Bora 1250/256 Kbps - 50 Euro
  • Typhoon 3072/384 Kbps - 93 Euro

Limited package

  • Xnet XPRESS 1024/192 Kbps - 14 Euro - 1 GB of data package included
  • Additional 256 MB of data package 1,34 Euro

Adriatic d.o.o. [16] in cooperation with Globalnet [17]

Unlimited package - with fair usage policy

  • 128/64 - 14 Euro
  • 256/64 - 25 Euro
  • 512/128 - 39 Euro
  • 1024/192 - 66 Euro

Transintercom d.o.o. [18]

Unlimited package - with fair usage policy

  • TIC 128 MAXI 128/64 Kbps - 26 Euro
  • TIC 256 MAXI 256/64 Kbps - 42 Euro
  • TIC 512 MAXI 512/128 Kbps - 76 Euro
  • TIC 768 optimal 768/128 Kbps - 126 Euro

Limited package

  • TIC 384 MINI 384/64 Kbps 14 Euro - 512 MB of data package included
  • TIC 768 MINI 768/128 Kbps - 30 Euro - 512 MB of data package included
  • Additional 512 MB of data package 2,8 Euro

Magic Telekom d.o.o. [19]

Unlimited Packages

  • Flat1 256/128 Kbps - 25 Euro
  • Flat2 512/128 Kbps - 52 Euro

Limited Packages

  • Surf0 512/128 Kbps - 11 Euro - 1 GB of data package included
  • Surf1 1024/128 Kbps - 18 Euro - 2 GB of data package included
  • Surf2 2048/256 Kbps - 35 Euro - 3 GB of data package included
  • Additional 1 GB of data package 2,8 Euro until 10 GB is reached
  • Additional 1 MB of data package 1,37 Euro for over 10 GB

Some providers charge Cable modem rental and it goes from 2 Euro to 4 Euro per month.

WiMax - Wireless internet access over WiMax standard

Novi net d.o.o. [20]

Unlimited packages

wDSL

  • 256/128 Kbps 13,75 Euro
  • 512/256 Kbps 26,25 Euro
  • 768/384 Kbps 34,58 Euro
  • 1024/512 Kbps 48,47 Euro
  • 2048/768 Kbps 90,13 Euro

All packages contain

  • flatrate
  • web hosting 25 mb space
  • 5 mailbox with 20 mb space
  • 10 mail aliasa

wDSL Pro

  • 512/512 Kbps 38,75 Euro
  • 1024/1024 Kbps 67,91 Euro
  • 2048/2048 Kbps 116,52 Euro
  • 2304/2304 Kbps 124,86 Euro

All packages contain

  • flatrate
  • web hosting 100 mb space
  • 50 mailbox 100 mb space (name@company.nnpro.net)
  • 100 mail aliasa (in total)
  • web domena (http://company.nnpro.net)
  • you can also have your own domain (.hr/.com etc...)

TriplePlay

Vodatel d.o.o. [21] - FTTH (Fiber To The Home)

Basic package for 27 Euro contains

  • 2 telephone lines
  • 120 minuts of free telephone conversations
  • 2/2 Mbps internet access - 2 GB of data package included
  • 20 Digital TV channels for watching on your PC
  • 5 e-mail addresses
  • 100 MB e-mail space
  • Additional Dial Up Access
  • Antispam protection
  • Antivirus & Firewall protection

There is also upgrade plan for internet

  • 5/5 Mbps - 28 Euro + basic package - 5 GB of data package included
  • 10/10 Mbps - 42 Euro + basic package - 10 GB of data package included
  • Additional 512 MB of data package 1,38 Euro
  • For unlimited data package you have to add another 14 Euro per month

Optika kabel d.o.o. [22] and PrimaTel d.o.o. [23]

Basic package for 27 Euro contains

  • 2 telephone lines with free calls inside PrimaTel network
  • 1024/256 Kbps internet access - 1 GB of data package included
  • 40 TV channels

Other Limited packages not in TriplePlay

  • 1024/192 Kbps - 11 Euro - 1 GB of data package included
  • 2048/256 Kbps - 25 Euro - 1 GB of data package included
  • 3072/386 Kbps - 48 Euro - 1 GB of data package included

Package rates for TriplePlay and other packages:

  • 1 GB 11 Euro per month
  • 2 GB 5 Euro per month
  • 5 GB 13 Euro per month
  • 10 GB 22 Euro per month
  • FLAT 34 Euro per month

Czech Republic

In Czech Republic, ADSL became commercially available at the beginning of 2003 by then-monopoly operator Cesky Telecom with basic speeds from 192/64 Kbps to 1024/256 Kbps. Because of low cable penetration and low WiFi penetration, it became a quick success even with high prices (~€350 per month for 1024/256 kbit). At the beginning of 2004, local loop unbundling began, and alternative operator Telenor offered ADSL (and also SDSL) via its network with speeds up to 4096/384 Kbps. This, and later privatisation of Cesky Telecom helped drive down prices.

As of January 2006, ADSL is offered in many variants, both with data limit and without with speeds up to 4096/384 Kbps. Some operators started offering ADSL2 technology via LLU (although on ADSL1 speeds) at the end of 2005, with Czech Telecom planning full speed ADSL2(+) later this year.

The typical ADSL connection in Czech Republic is 512/128 Kbps with a data limit of 3 - 10 GB. Speeds, data limits, Fair User Policy (limiting link speed based on amount of transferred data) and overbooking vary per each ISP, but basically, settings offered are:

Cesky Telecom Network

  • 128/64 Kbps, 2 GB, 1:50 - ~€14
  • 512/128 Kbps, 10 GB, 1:50 - ~€23
  • 1024/256 Kbps, 20 GB, 1:50 - ~€35
  • 2048/256 Kbps, 20 GB, 1:50 - ~€52
  • 512/128 Kbps, no limit, 1:20 - ~€66
  • 1024/256 Kbps, no limit, 1:20 - ~€104
  • 2048/256 Kbps, no limit, 1:20 - ~€243

Telenor Network

  • 1024/256, no limit, 1:40 - ~€24
  • 2048/256, no limit, 1:40 - ~€35
  • 4096/384, no limit, 1:40 - ~€64
Distance (CTc operator):

from 3/2005:
to 2400 m - max. full speed 4096 Kbps
to 3400 m - max. 2048/256 Kbps
to 6500 m - max. 1024/256 Kbps
to 7300 m - max. 512/128 Kbps
to 8200 m - max. 256/64 Kbps

to 3/2005:
256/64 Kbps to max 3,8 km
512/128 Kbps to 3,4 km,
1024/256 Kbps to 3 km.

Denmark

ADSL was introduced commercially to Denmark in winter 1999. The service has been rolled out very extensively and the national coverage is now above 97% of the Danish population. There are several ISPs in Denmark but only a few own their own infrastructure (The 'last mile' is owned solely by TDC), namely TDC, Cybercity and to some extent Tele2 (who acquired their xDSL infrastructure from Tiscali in February 2005).

More information can be found here (in order of market share):

ADSL2+ providers:

Power Companies providing fiber broadband:

Finland

First ADSL line providers started in 2000. A typical ADSL connection in Finland is 512/512 Kbps or 1024/512 Kbps and it costs €20 to €30 per month.

Some ADSL Line Providers:

In the city of Oulu, Oulun Puhelin Plc (OPOY) has for a longer time offered full-rate ADSL (8/1 Mbps) and VDSL (10/10 Mbps, actually Cisco Long Reach Ethernet).

With aggressive marketing, Saunalahti brought full-rate ADSL (8/1 Mbps) to the capital area and Turku on 2004-08-03. Saunalahti announced ADSL2 services (12 Mbps) on 2004-10-21, available in the capital area and Turku. Saunalahti also announced the first ever ADSL2+ services (24 Mbps) in Nordic countries on 2004-11-15, first available only in the Tampere region.

Sonera provides 10/10mbit Cisco Long Reach Ethernet in apartment buildings for prices ranging from 40€ to 50€. Sonera has also started to install fiber optic cables in major areas of Finland which will provide up to a speed of 100/10mbit, which is also available only to apartment buildings.

France

In metropolitan France, intense competition between Internet service providers has led to the introduction of moderately-priced high speed ADSL up to 60 Mbps (erenis) for 29,90€ per month, often including other services such as unlimited free VoIP telephone communications to land lines, and digital television. Conventional dial-up Internet is increasingly considered as outdated. Iliad is expected to launch a ftthservice on early January 2007 up to 100 mbps France Telecom is testing FTTH technology in Paris with a large 2.5 down/1.2 up Gbit/s backbone. This service is available for 70€/month.[2]

Lines

File:Ortel ZO Sept2005.gif
zones covered by a DSL service provider in France at the end of September 2005

On the 30 June 2006, France had 11.1 million broadband connections, of which 94% are ADSL subscribers, a 3.2 million lines or 41% increase from a year before.[3] This makes France the second largest ADSL market in Europe. At the end of 2005, 30% of those DSL lines were unbundled, and 37% of those unbundled lines were totally unbundled without any direct invoicing of the historical operator and a greater progression rate than partial unbundling.[4] At the end of September 2005, more than 95% of the population can have a DSL connection, albeit some of them only 512/128.

Furthermore, actual Internet transfer rates may stay far behind the advertised DSL connection speed, depending on the subscriber's home distance to the DSLAM. While a connection of 20 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload may give transfer rates of only roughly 2 Mbps (200 kB/s) or less download and 500 Kbps (50 kB/s) upload (to various servers in France, Germany and USA, academic and hosting services), other people have no problem reaching the advertised speed.[citation needed]

ADSL Market

Wanadoo, now known in France as Orange SA, a subsidiary of France Telecom, is the leader with half of the market with 49.5%, helped by the reputation and availability of physical shops of the incumbent operator to overcome slightly higher prices because of its obligation of using fixed prices. Other operators shares the rest, with the first being Free (subsidiary of Iliad) with 17.9% (18.2% at the end of Q2 2006[5]) of the market, just above Neuf Telecom (Louis Dreyfus Group) which merged his ADSL activities with Cegetel (Vivendi Universal) with 13.2%.[6] Then came the other operators: Alice (Telecom Italia) which bought Tiscali, for 6.1%, Club internet (Deutsche Telekom) for 4.4%, AOL, Tele2, and small operators, frequently virtual. The trend is a slow augmentation for the challengers at the expense of Wanadoo.

ADSL Offers

The market is oriented towards stopping the price war, and offering more services at a price around 30€, slightly more for the incumbent operator:

  • maximum throughput permitted by the line, either 8 Mbps (maximum of ADSL) or 24 Mbps (maximum of ADSL2+) depending on the line length and type of DSLAM
  • unlimited telephony to land lines in Europe, North America (even mobile phones), China and India
  • television with the broadcasting of the young terrestrial digital TV and paid satellite TV

Those triple play offers were initiated by Free with the Freebox modem, and are expanding to all major players, driving the French market.[7]

As the market matures, it is beginning to open to smaller "boutique" broadband suppliers that specialize in meeting the needs of specific market segments. For example, Teleconnect France has introduced an AngloPack ADSL/VOIP service for the 250,000 English-speaking expats residing in France, featuring 20MB/sec connection speeds; free calls to the UK, USA and other anglophone countries; provision of a local UK number permitting a user's family and friends to call the user's VOIP line in France at the cost of a local call; and full customer service in English. Teleconnect is the only broadband service provider in France with an English help desk.

First prices between 15€ and 20€ per month remain for a small usage with limited throughput around one megabit per second (but often ADSL2 max in unbundled zones). Those prices can also be attained with complete unbundling, saving the monthly 15€ for the POTS subscription while retaining the triple play services. Those offers of naked DSL are also available in non-unbundled areas, and can led to the economy of the traditional telephone subscription.[8][9]

ADSL Technology

After selling the first ADSL2+ offers in Europe, providing a speed of 18 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up in 2004, French operators continue to offer new services, driven by the competition. It is possible to use video telephony, video on demand, Reach Extended ADSL for 8 km lines soon. Experiments aren't any more the Iliad/Free trademark: they recently demonstrated an aggregated 174 Mbps link,[10] while Telecom Italia innovates on the service with a free hotline and France Telecom is pushing VDSL.

In December 2005, Free enabled a TV multicasting service on the customer's local network, an open solution based on RTSP.[11] This completes the media center capability of the freebox, also using the VideoLAN project.[12] They launched on April 2006 a new Freebox divided in two devices with DVB-T and HDTV capabilities and a Mimo WiFi network.[13]

Quadruple play, triple play with mobile communications, is available: neuf cegetel is selling for 200€ and 1€ with a plan Twin,[14] a GSM/WiFi hybrid telephone after the experimental beautifulphone, by the means of a QTek 8300 and Wanadoo sells Unik, a Motorola, Nokia or Samsung handset for 100€.[15] Free develops a wifi mesh network of HD freeboxes to be used to provide mobile telephony and compete with traditional cellular operators.

Germany

DSL Providers

As of first quarter of 2005, Deutsche Telekom has approximately 6.4 million DSL customers in Germany (called T-DSL), making Germany one of the top DSL countries. T-DSL has a number of resellers, and many ISPs providing service for it. Alternatively, there are DSL providers in Germany which have their own DSL network and only rent the copper lines, e.g. Arcor, QSC, AliceDSL and Telefonica.

Deutsche Telekom offers T-DSL:

  • 1024/128 (€17)
  • 2048/192 (€20)
  • 6016/576 (€25)
  • 16000/1024 (€30)

A telephone contract with Deutsche Telekom (16€ analogue, 25€ ISDN) is required.

Major resellers of T-DSL are T-Online and 1&1, and all have identical prices for T-DSL so far.

These prices do not include ISP fees, which are typically an additional €5-10 (flatrate, all speeds) and vary, also depending on location. Such ISPs include T-Online, Congster (both Deutsche Telekom), 1&1 and GMX (both United Internet), all of which use/resell the T-Com IP backbone (though 1&1 has been using Telefónica's network for their 16 Mbps service).

Actual Internet transfer rates via the T-Com IP backbone are typically close to the maximum of the DSL connection speed, including connections to the USA (as long as the actual server permits it, of course).

Arcor offers 2048/192 (€15), 6144/640 (€20), 16128/800 (€23). These prices already include the ISP flatrate, but require a telephone contract with Arcor.

Telefonica has its own DSL infrastructure with 40% coverage based on line sharing and its own backbone, formerly MediaWays. It is used in part by AOL (4th with 1 million customers) and Freenet, but Telefonica itself does not sell to endusers in Germany. AOL uses T-DSL where Telefonica has no coverage.

QSC offers Q-DSL home with 1,5 or 2,5 Mbps combined download and upload speed, and the customer chooses how much of it is upload. Prices are 30 and 40 €/month, respectively, plus activation fee.

Deutsche Telekom/T-Com is building a VDSL network in summer 2006, but there is political quarrel, because they demand exemption from regulation, which the current German government wants to allow, but the EU does not accept. It is supposed to offer up to 50 Mbps download, 10 Mbps speeds and intended to be used with proprietary digital TV offers, including live football games (Bundesliga).

The market is very much in movement, prices dropping and new technologies emerging rapidly, but some offers have very long contract terms of 1 or 2 years.

Coverage is not very good, many towns with a few thousand people have no DSL offers.

Alternative technologies

Connection technologies other than DSL are not widely used in Germany so far, due to a lack of viable offers, but are starting to get interesting.

Until recently, Cable Internet was not available, because the cable TV infrastructure was owned by Deutsche Telekom, which pushed DSL and neglected the cable network. It was sold after political pressure a few years ago, now owned by Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW, ish etc. (separated geographically), which slowly invest into upgrading the cable network's bandwidth/capacity and making it 2-way-capable. Kabel Deutschland offers 2 Mbps for 30€/month (and higher speeds at higher prices) on top of the cable TV fee.

Satellite links can be used by those who are not covered by DSL or other technologies. It is called e.g. T-DSL Satellite or skyDSL, which are one-way links based on DVB-S and require an uplink via dialup, which often has to be paid by minute. Some offers with two-way satellite connections exist for consumers. Satellite inherently has high latency, and is thus second choice for most people.

UMTS is becoming an interesting alternative where available, at speeds of up to 384 Kbps download and 64 Kbps upload, particularly since E-Plus/Base offers a true mobile flatrate for roughly 50€/month. O2 has an offer based on UMTS/GSM, but limited to the home, called Genion Homezone. The big mobile providers T-Mobile and Vodafone now offer tariffs with 5 Gbyte/month of data transfer included, with the advantage of HSDPA (up to 1,8 Mbps download) availability on all UMTS nodes.

Greece

ADSL appeared commercially in Greece in 2003, and is currently the only broadband standard that exists in the country except for Satellite Internet.

The incumbent telecom operator, OTE, which was not the first operator to launch ADSL services in the country, has been accused of deliberately stalling ADSL deployment for three years, in order to continue charging users with high per-minute dial-up charges for as long as possible (flat-rate dial-up connections do not exist in Greece). OTE has also been criticized for artificially limiting the number of packets passing per second through an ADSL line, thus making VoIP services over its broadband network unusable and unreliable.

Typical download/upload speeds available over OTE's network are 768/192, 1024/256 and 2048/256 Kbps.

Faster data rates (up to 12/1 Mbps) are provided by other telecom operators via Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).

ADSL Line Providers in Greece:

  • OTE, the incumbent telecom operator and former state monopoly.
  • Vivodi Telecom, a private company utilizing LLU since 2003, covers a few parts of Greece at the moment and provides ADSL2+ connections with speeds up to 12/1 Mbps. It also offers VoIP solutions and is currently testing triple play.
  • Tellas, an affiliate of WIND (Italy), offers ADSL through its LLU network in some districts of the Athens Metropolitan Area with speeds up to 2048/512 Kbps.
  • Hellas On Line, owned by the Greek-Russian network equipment manufacturer Intracom, offers 4/1 Mbps ADSL2+ connections in very few parts of Athens.
  • Forthnet, the No1 Greek ISP, is going to launch its own LLU network soon. It is expected to cover much more regions than the 3 above providers, which will make it a real alternative option to OTE's monopoly.

Main ADSL Internet Providers (ISPs) through OTE's network:

Approximate Prices for unlimited usage packages:

OTE+ISP - 768/192 Kbps ~ 20 €/month

OTE+ISP - 1024/256 Kbps ~ 30 €/month

OTE+ISP - 2048/256 Kbps ~ 40 €/month

OTE+ISP - 2048/256 Kbps ~ 25 €/mth on a 12-month contract

Tellas shared LLU - 2048/512 Kbps, 47 €/mth on a 12-month contract

Vivodi shared LLU - 1024/256 Kbps, 109 €/6 months, 179 €/12 months

Vivodi shared LLU - 2048/640 Kbps, 159 €/6 months, 229 €/12 months

HOL shared LLU - 4/1 Mbps, 20.50 €/mth on a 12-month contract

  • All prices above require an OTE fixed line connection (about 15€/month). Vivodi also offers full LLU packages, which do not require such a line:

Vivodi full LLU - 1024/256 Kbps, 139 €/6 months, 209 €/12 months

Vivodi full LLU - 2048/640 Kbps, 189 €/6 months, 259 €/12 months

Hungary

ADSL appeared in Hungary in 2001, and ADSL2+ in late 2005. The main providers are: T-Com (formerly Matáv), Invitel, Emitel, Monortel, Pantel, TVNet Approximate prices:

  • 512/96 ~ 35€
  • 1024/128 ~ 49€
  • 2048/192 ~ 59€
  • 3008/384 ~ 70€
  • 6144/512 ~ 105€

Starting from June 2006 there will be 2 new offering: 12 and 18 Mbps from T-Com based on ADSL2+

Ireland

In Ireland, Eircom began rolling out Broadband in 2002. This continued slowly until last year when the rollout became much more aggressive. As more and more competition has appeared so have the prices dropped. Local loop unbundling (LLU) is now starting to move with companies like Magnet Networks and Smart Telecom offering unbundled services. As in many other countries, localities in rural Ireland are unable to get DSL. Areas around major towns in Ireland, and even some smaller towns, are benefitting from either rollouts of more DSL-enabled exchanges, or wireless Internet services. The government-sponsored Group Broadband Schemes have helped some local communities set up their own internet networks whether with wireless or other technologies. Satellite Internet access is the only choice for some people (termed "Satellite broadband" by some in Ireland for PR reasons), and the broadband for schools programme provided true broadband to just over half the schools in the country (the remainder relying on satellite technology).

Broadband is now available in areas near DSL-enabled exchanges from several companies other than Eircom. These include BT Ireland, Smart Telecom, Clearwire, Magnet Networks and UTV Internet. Several wireless services such as Irish Broadband, Lastmile Broadband and DigiWeb also exist in metropolitan areas, and some towns around the country.

ADSL appeared in Ireland in 2002. By December 2005 around 50% of all homes could in theory get ADSL. By April 2006 90% of households will be "broadband capable", according to Eircom, the largest Broadband provider in the Republic of Ireland. These figures are the source of much debate in Ireland, as other factors mean that possible connections are far lower (those living within the limit of a broadband-enabled exchange may be connected to a non-enabled one, also as of August 2006 about 30% of lines are degraded such that they are not suitable for DSL).

  • 1024/128 ~ 10 GB limit ~ €30
  • 2048/192 ~20 GB limit ~ €40
  • 3072/384 ~ 30 GB limit ~ Static IP address for €50 ~ €55

Business packages

  • 3072/384 ~ 40 GB limit ~ €45 excl. VAT
  • 4096/384 ~ 60 GB limit ~ €89
  • 5120/512 ~ Unlimited download ~ €169

Italy

ADSL has in theory been available in Italy for a number of years, and has been very widely publicised; but in practice has to now (Sept 2004) been limited by an apparently low technical competence of the telecoms companies, which consumers continue to tolerate. Consumer expectations are heavily conditioned by decades of poor service, delays, random cuts and the alleged technical and commercial ineptitude that was typical of the entire communications sector, a state monopoly until very recently.

Recent liberalisation of the market has brought much hype and little change. The local loop is still in the hands of the old monopolist, whose ingrained corporate culture does not favour the consumer. The general corporate trend to outsource technical assistance to untrained operators in third-party call centres does little to mitigate a very sorry state of affairs. The old monopolist limits the amount of bandwidth it sells to competitors, which are forced to heavily oversubscribe users to limited backbone. Some companies have started installing their own DSLAMs, and offering fast connection at competitive prices, but these services aren't available in many areas. A cable operator, Fastweb, has started a 10 Mbps Optical fiber service, with VoIP, at about 90 Euros/month but as they started building their network from scratch in recent years it is only available in major cities. One common criticism is that they connect their users to a metropolitan area network and not directly to the internet, so users are behind NAT servers. Satellite internet remains very expensive, starting from about 150 Euros/month

Latvia

ADSL services in Latvia are provided by Lattelecom, it's services are very popular. Mājas DSL, is a service for home users. It's speed is 512/128 Kbps and a ADSL2+ version with a speed of 10 Mbps. Both cost 11,80 Ls. An all-in-one deals Mājas komplekti are also aviable featuring a phone line and free calls to other Lattelecom users and a 2084/512 Kbps or a 5120/512 Kbps ADSL line for a price of 13,90 Ls and 16,90 Ls accordingly.

Lithuania

ADSL carrier services in Lithuania are provided by monopoly Teo LT. In the future this service might be used by other ISPs for their retail services. Find more about "Zebra DSL"

  • Prices : down/up
  • 4096/768 for € 25
  • 1024/768 for € 15
  • 256/128 for € 8 *limited

Netherlands

The Netherlands has the highest broadband penetration in the European Union. DSL is available for 99% of the population and broadband cable is available for 90% of the population. 57% of the Dutch households use a broadband connection. DSL has a market share of 60% and broadband cable a market share of 40%. The market shares of the service providers are stated below. (The figures are from December 2005, unless otherwise stated). Several up- and download rates are available, depending on the network provider.

DSL

Five DSL network service providers with approx. 2.5 million broadband subscribers (60%):

KPN has nearly 100% coverage and other networks have 50-70% coverage. Tiscali Wholesale will be bought by KPN (September 2006).

KPN has four ISP brands: Direct ADSL, HetNet, Planet and XS4ALL. HetNet and Planet used to be separate companies, but they were bought and integrated into KPN and are now only brand names. KPN has in recent years acquired several other ISPs. None of their brand names were adopted by KPN and they ceased to exist. XS4ALL is owned, but not run by KPN. XS4ALL was the first ISP in the Netherlands which offered internet access to the general public and is used by KPN as a main innovator and for that reason reserved the right to run its own affairs. KPN has acquired even more customers by XS4ALL taking over ISPs as well. These include Cistron, HCCnet and most recently the Dutch branch of Demon internet.

Typical up- and download rates of KPN:

  • 1500/256 Kbps from €21.95 - €29.95
  • 3000/512 Kbps from €29.95 - €39.95
  • 6000/768 Kbps from €49.95 - €59.95
  • 12000/1024 Kbps from €74.95 - €79.95 (only available on local exchanges with ADSL2+ equipment)
  • 20000/1024 Kbps for €99,95 (only available on local exchanges with ADSL2+ equipment)

HetNet also offers lower speeds. The first rate is for Direct ADSL (only an internet connection without emailboxes and other services) and the second rate is for XS4ALL (high quality ISP).

For other networks prices tend to be lower and speeds higher:

  • Tele2 offers 20000/1024 Kbps with telephony (VoIP) and live soccer games of the Dutch competition (IPTV) for €59.95
  • Orange offers 20000/1024 Kbps for €23.95

In 2005 Siemens installed a new ethernet core network for KPN. In the first half of 2006 Alcatel upgraded KPN's DSL equipment for KPN/Planet Internetplusbellen (VoIP), HetNet Surfen & Bellen (VoIP) and KPN Slim (a low cost, flat rate internet connection of 128 Kbps with VoIP). For VoIP, costumers get a new modem (KPN Experiabox: Siemens Gigaset SX551 ADSL2+ router with four ethernet ports, WiFi, USB and two telephone ports). This is a direct result of the VoIP services offered by other network providers. In 2007 KPN will also begin to offer Mine (IPTV with VoD). In 2010 KPN plans to offer VDSL on an All-IP network and plans to dismantle the PSTN/POTS network and the local exchanges to compete with the cable companies.

Cable

The five largest Cable network service providers with approx. 1.6 million broadband subscribers (40%):

  • 15%: Essent Kabelcom
  • 13%: UPC
  • 8%: Casema
  • 3%: Multikabel
  • 2%: Delta

These networks are based on the EuroDOCSIS standard and are VoIP capable based on the PacketCable standard. The three largest cable providers UPC (chello), Essent Kabelcom (@home) and Casema have a combined market share of 92% of the broadband cable subscribers. Several other small local cable (internet) providers exist. Typically there is no choice for consumers as to their cable provider, as it is location dependent.

Also for cable networks prices tend to be lower and speeds higher than KPN:

  • UPC offers a maximum speed of 20480/2048 Kbps with telephony (VoIP) for €59.95
  • Essent offers a maximum speed of 15000/1200 Kbps for €69.95
  • Casema offers a maximum speed of 12500/1050 Kbps for €69,95

Essent Kabelcom, Casema and Multikabel are bought by private equity investors and will be combined to form one large cable network (September 2006).

Malta

Template:Wikilink-date Commercial availability of broadband internet, namely through ADSL and cable, has existed since 2000, and is accessible from all areas of the island. As of 2005, ADSL is offered at speeds of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps download, and 256 Kbps and 512 Kbps upload. From 9th June maltanet has upgraded all the 2 Mbps customers to 4 Mbps connections. All local ISPs offer these speeds, at varying prices. ADSL bandwidth is received through the Seabone Network and operated by DataStream and Vodafone Malta plc. (which are not ISPs). The bandwidth is then sold to the various ISPs which in turn sell it to customers. As of December 2005, DataStream merged with the ISP maltanet, giving maltanet a competitive edge over other ISPs - both DataStream and maltanet are subsidiaries of the national telephone company, Maltacom.

Cable internet is offered by only one ISP, OnVOL, with speeds available at 2 Mbps and 4 Mbps download, and 256 Kbps and 512 Kbps upload. OnVOL is a subsidiary of the cable and digital television provider, Melita Cable. The 4 Mbps speed offered by OnVOL via cable is the fastest current connection available for the residential user in Malta. OnVOL also offer the standard ADSL connection as mentioned above, however this is not advertised and apparently only available for businesses.

Broadband connectivity has become very widespread on the island, with many households opting for a broadband connection. Prices vary slightly between ISPs, however, 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps ADSL connections, and 2 Mbps and 4 Mbps cable connections are all very reasonably priced, and therefore affordable to the majority of the population. This is largely due to competition between ISPs, and also special connection plans, targeted towards the household user.

Norway

ADSL became available to private consumers around late 2000.

Depending on the provider, offered speeds range from 704/128 Kbps to as high as 8/1 Mbps for ADSL, while ADSL2+ is slowly becoming available with speeds reaching up to 26/1.5 Mbps.

Prices vary constantly due to fierce competition between providers, but prices can be found as low as 195 NOK (US$30) per month for the most basic ADSL connections, while ADSL2+ is somewhat pricier, it starts at around 550 NOK (US$82) per month. This is in addition to DSL equipment rental and installation fees.

Some major ISPs that provide DSL services in Norway:

There is also a flurry of local providers all over the country that offer competitive DSL services.

As of the time this is written (January 2006), all known services include unlimited download. (i.e no capping)

External links

Poland

The most popular ADSL services for home users in Poland are Neostrada provided by TPSA, and Net24 provided by Netia. Business users as well as some home users use Internet DSL TP also offered by TPSA. According to Eurostat, OECD and others internet in Poland is the most expensive in Europe. This is mostly caused by the lack of competitiveness. Luckily new operators like Dialog and GTS Energis are making the own provider lines and offer more attractive and cheaper service. Recently the Polish Office of Electronical Communication passed a bill forcing the TPSA to rent 51% of their ADSL lines to other ISPs for 50% lower prices. This move will definitely affect the prices of DSL in Poland

Neostrada

At present Neostrada has six possible price, speed and download limit variants (as of May 2006):

Prices and speed for 12 month contract (excluding tax):

  • 128/64 Kbps and 7 GB monthly for €19 / month
  • 256/128 Kbps and 7 GB monthly for €20 / month
  • 512/128 Kbps and 15 GB monthly for €31 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps and 25 GB monthly for €43 / month
  • 2048/256 Kbps and 35 GB monthly for €54 / month
  • 6144/256 Kbps and 50 GB monthly for €62 / month

Prices and speed for 24 month contract (excluding tax):

  • 512/128 Kbps and 15 GB monthly for €25 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps and 25 GB monthly for €35 / month
  • 2048/256 Kbps and 35 GB monthly for €41 / month
  • 6144/256 Kbps and 50 GB monthly for €53 / month

Prices and speed for unlimited period of time (excluding tax):

  • 128/64 Kbps and 7 GB monthly for €30 / month
  • 256/128 Kbps and 7 GB monthly for €32 / month
  • 512/128 Kbps and 15 GB monthly for €44 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps and 25 GB monthly for €59 / month
  • 2048/256 Kbps and 35 GB monthly for €64 / month
  • 6144/256 Kbps and 50 GB monthly for €75 / month

After exceeding the data transfer limit, download speeds fall to 32 Kbps until the end of month on all options.

One can buy an additional 2 GB of transfer by calling a premium-rate number or buying a special card with a code. It costs €2.5 and does not affect base line speed.

Some users also have older (offered until September 2004) no longer available options of 640/160 Kbps with no download limit for €33.

Internet DSL TP

There is another ADSL option available, targeted mainly at business clients, called Internet DSL TP. This does not impose any download limits, the link availability is guaranteed plus offers static IP address(es) and a modem with Ethernet interface. Of course, it is more expensive than Neostrada (all prices excluding tax, as of May 2006):

  • 256/128 Kbps for €36 / month
  • 512/128 Kbps for €47 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps for €60 / month
  • 2048/256 Kbps for €78 / month
  • 4096/512 Kbps for €91 / month
  • 8192/640 Kbps for €104 / month
  • 15360/800 Kbps for €131 / month

The main drawback of this service is that, excluding times of promotional fares, the installation cost is very high: €209. However, monthly fares are now quite close to similar Neostrada speed options.

Net24

ADSL service called Net24, provided by TP's main competitor Netia, offers four speed options: (As for July 2006)

  • 160/64 Kbps for €14 / month
  • 320/64 Kbps for €18 / month
  • 640/160 Kbps for €28 / month
  • 1500/256 Kbps for €35 / month

(prices excluding tax)

The physical speeds are slightly higher than marketed speeds to accommodate protocol overhead. The IP address is assigned dynamically on connection.

There is download restriction all options. Users who download more than 40 gigabytes of data each month, three months in a row may suffer from reduced download speed. The service can be installed on ISDN lines.

Netia also offers ADSL (BiznesNet24) and SDSL (SuperNet24) subscriptions for business customers which offer static IP address and higher speeds.

DialNET DSL

ADSL service called DialNET DSL, provided by Dialog. There is no download limits, which makes it much better than TPSA's Neostrada.

Prices and speed for 12 month contract (including tax):

  • 512/128 Kbps for €21 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps for €31 / month
  • 2048/512 Kbps for €62 / month

Prices and speed for unlimited time contract (including tax):

  • 512/128 Kbps for €31 / month
  • 1024/256 Kbps for €46 / month
  • 2048/512 Kbps for €77 / month

Broker

Broker is a cable service provider operating in 5 cities located in south Poland. Although its territorial range is relatively small, it has become known for providing excellent broadband connections at highly competitive prices.

Prices and speed for unlimited time contract (for customers with the cable TV service) — including tax:

  • 128/64 Kbps for €11 / month
  • 512/256 Kbps for €15 / month
  • 1536/512 Kbps for €20 / month
  • 3072/1024 Kbps for €23 / month

External links

Portugal

ADSL service has been available to the general public in Portugal since 2000, however it wasn't until 2002, due to increased market competition and lower overall prices, that the service started to become appealing to consumers when compared to other available technologies. The penetration in Portugal is around 30% although Portugal has the distinction of being one of the only European countries to have coverage in virtually every part of the nation. The main telephone companies have since started to market packages that combine the traditional voice service and ADSL service.

The top ADSL ISPs in Portugal are:

Portugal Telecom

A former monopoly, Portugal Telecom is still the largest telecommunications company in the country today. Due to their previous monopoly status their landline infrastructure covers 100% of the national territory, making them the only operator that can offer direct service anywhere in the country. Portugal Telecom uses two brands to segment their ADSL service: SAPO for the residential and Telepac for the business market.

Prices for SAPO ADSL service (Portugal Telecom PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~€15):

  • Sapo 512Kb : 512/128 Kbps for €24,99 / month with 1 GB international traffic limit and 10 GB national traffic limits.
  • Sapo 4Mb : 4096/256 Kbps for €35,58 / month with 26 GB international traffic limit and unlimited national traffic.
  • Sapo 8Mb : 8128/384 Kbps for €49,50 / month with 43 GB international traffic limit and unlimited national traffic.

SonaeCom

SonaeCom started operations in 1999, soon after the government opened the telecommunications market to competition. SonaeCom started by renting Portugal Telecom's lines in order to offer their voice service to customers, but later started laying their own infrastructure and can now offer direct service in the main metropolitan areas. Taking advantage of the increased bandwidth provided by their ADSL2+ network, in 2006 SonaeCom launched an IPTV service, with this move, SonaeCom can now offer phone, internet and TV services over a single line to their customers.

Prices for Clix ADSL packages:

  • Clix 4Mb : 4096/256 Kbps for €29.90 / month with a 10 GB total traffic limit.
  • Clix 20Mb : 20480/416 Kbps for €34.90 / month with 25 GB total traffic limit.

OniTelecom

OniTelecom ONI started offering telecommunications services (voice and data) on the 1st of January 2000. At that time it was the only Portuguese "new" telecom operator boasting its own country wide network. Its initial voice service came with a free Internet Dial-Up Account for the company’s ISP service "ONINET", in 2001 ONI moved into the Corporate Internet Services market with the launch of the NET4B brand, with voice, data and ISP services specifically tailored to that market.

Prices for ONIDUO ADSL packages:

  • Oniduo 512 Kbps : 512/128 Kbps for €19.95 / month with a 4 GB total traffic limit.
  • Oniduo 5 Mbps : 5120/256 Kbps for €29.95 / month with 12 GB total traffic limit.

Romania

In Romania, broadband internet has been available since 2000, through coaxial cable, first from Kappa (now defunct) and currently from Astral Romania, RDS and UPC. Currently speeds range between 384 Kbps to 2 Mbps (both upstream and downstream) for household targeted plans and cost between USD 9 and USD 30 per month, depending on the bandwidth provided.

However, the most popular broadband services are provided by micro-ISPs (known locally as "reţea de bloc/reţea de cartier" (block/neighborhood LAN) with between 50 and 2000 customers each. These ISPs usually provide their services through 100BASE-T UTP LANs, with a number of particularities and peculiarities : most were grassroot organizations and still have a feeling of community between subscribers and the management, speeds are usually divided in three categories : "LAN", "Metropolitan" and "International" with Metropolitan meaning a limited number of networks with which the micro-ISP has a peering agreement and sometimes the cable internet providers (as there is no national Internet exchange, a lot of metropolitan traffic in Romania is routed through Hungary or Germany). Generally, for such broadband connections, speeds are 100 Mbps locally, 1-10 Mbps metro and 128-512 Kbps International. Costs range from between 25 Lei (USD 8.5) and 700 Lei (USD 235). Some of these micro-ISP function completely legally, while others (generally the smaller ones) are organized informally in something like a permanent LAN party. Many of these micro-ISPs formed organizations to represent their common interests and provide for integration of services (one such organization is Interlan, covering the whole of Bucharest).

DSL has been a very recent addition, on an almost saturated market (Romtelecom began offering the service in late 2005 in a small number of large cities), and is not a popular means of connection, as it's both perceived as small and expensive (1 Mbps downstream, 256 Kbps upstream is offered for Euro 35 / USD 42).

For business use, services are usually provided through fiber optics or radio. Companies providing such services (Astral, RDS, Evolva, Mediasat, UPC, Euroweb, Fibernet, Intrabit) are providing very flexible and negotiable plans also based on the Metropolitan/International distinction. Usually prices and bandwidths are fully negotiable as their main clients are the micro-ISPs discussed above. There is very strong competition, with no peering between many such companies (again requiring a lot of traffic to be routed through Hungary) and not even access to another's fiber-optics infrastructure (leading to the existence, in some cases, of over 25 fiber optics cables on the same street, hanging from the same pole). As such many companies have two separate providers for basically the same services.

DSL in Romania is provided by Romtelecom and a small number of Romtelecom licensees using it's infrastructure. DSL is very unpopular in Romania, because of very late introduction (in 2005), the wide availability and high penetration of cable and LAN networks (available since 2000), the very high prices (about twice higher than cable competitors) and limited availability. As such, prices valid for 2006 (normal, non-promotional prices) are as following (add 4 € / month for modem rental):

  • ClickNet Express 512 (512 Kbps downstream, 128 Kbps upstream) : 25 € / month (USD 30) (compare with 9 USD/month from a cable ISP)
  • ClickNet Express 1024 (1024 Kbps downstream, 256 Kbps upstream) : 35 € / month (USD 42) (compare with 19 USD/month from a cable ISP)
  • ADSL Express 2048 (2048 Kbps downstream, 384 Kbps upstream) : 79 € / month (USD 95) (compare with 45 USD/month from a cable ISP)

Serbia

ADSL and cable internet has seen wide use in Serbia since 2004. Cable is provided by SBB and ADSL is available through a number of ISPs, all using the services of Telekom Srbija.

ADSL providers:

ADSL flat rate options:

  • 256/64 Kbps from 22€
  • 512/128 Kbps from 31€
  • 768/192 Kbps from 42€

Slovenia

Template:Wikilink-date Slovenian ISP's provide ADSL; ADSL2+, VDSL, SHDSL, VDSL2 and FTTH.
There are no download limits on any of package and no fair-use policy.

Companies:
SiOL
ADSL

  • 1024/256 Kbps for 7.200,00 SIT (~ US$36) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)
  • 4096/512 Kbps for 10.200,00 SIT (~ US$51) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)


Amis
ADSL

  • 1024/256 Kbps for 6.590,00 SIT (~ US$33) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)
  • 4096/512 Kbps for 10.550,00 SIT (~ US$53) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)


Voljatel
ADSL

  • 1024/256 Kbps for 6.800,00 SIT (~ US$34) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)
  • 4096/512 Kbps for 10.600,00 SIT (~ US$53) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)


ADSL2+

  • 1024/256 Kbps for 3.990,00 SIT (~ US$20) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)
  • 8/1 Mbps for 7.790,00 SIT (~ US$39) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)
  • 20/1 Mbps for 12.990,00 SIT (~ US$65) //PSTN or ISDN needed (extra ~US$15)


T-2
VDSL

  • 1024/256 Kbps for 5.000 SIT (~ US$25) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 1024/1024 Kbps for 6.000 SIT (~ US$30) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 4096/512 Kbps for 7.000 SIT (~ US$35) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 8/1 Mbps for 8.000 SIT (~ US$40) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 10/1 Mbps for 9.000 SIT (~ US$45) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 10/2 Mbps for 10.000 SIT (~ US$50) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 10/4 Mbps for 12.000 SIT (~ US$60) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 10/10 Mbps for 14.000 SIT (~ US$70) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 20/1 Mbps for 13.000 SIT (~ US$65) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 20/4 Mbps for 15.000 SIT (~ US$75) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 20/10 Mbps for 18.000 SIT (~ US$90) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 40/8 Mbps for 25.000 SIT (~ US$125) //no PSTN or ISDN needed
  • 40/15 Mbps for 29.000 SIT (~ US$145) //no PSTN or ISDN needed

FTTH

  • 1 Mbps / 1 Mbps 3.500 SIT 14,61 EUR
  • 2 Mbps / 2 Mbps 5.500 SIT 22,95 EUR
  • 5 Mbps / 5 Mbps 6.500 SIT 27,12 EUR
  • 10 Mbps / 10 Mbps 10.000 SIT 41,73 EUR
  • 20 Mbps / 20 Mbps 13.500 SIT 56,33 EUR
  • 50 Mbps / 50 Mbps 50.000 SIT 208,65 EUR
  • 100 Mbps / 100 Mbps 100.000 SIT 417,29 EUR
  • 1 Gbps / 1 Gbps 1.000.000 SIT 4.172,93 EUR

Spain

ADSL arrived in Spain in 1999. The main ISPs are:

The average speed is 1024/300 Kbps, costing €20 to €39 per month for an unmetered line. This is the standard for telefonica and resellers. Faster connections up to 8 Mbps are available, but the price is considerably higher (€150 for 8 Mbps). However, over the last 2 years companies like Jazztel, Wanadoo or Ya.com are offering packs including Television+Phone calls+ADSL up to 20 Mb for 20€-30€ a month.

Several companies, including Comunitel and Direct Telecom offer ADSL and VoIP (Internet Telephony) packages. They give the VoIP capabilities at no extra cost directly from the router they supply. As VoIP is becoming the norm in most of the world, Direct Telecom, from humble beginnings in 2000, is slowly overtaking the other big fish and getting a large percentage of the broadband market. Comunitel offers the same package (ADSL + free calls) for 40 €/month.

Leading ISPs offer ADSL2/ADSL2+ connections from 8 to 20 Mbps of download and 512 to 1024 Kbps of upload. These include Jazztel, Ya.com, Wanadoo and others. While not covering 100% of the territory, it reaches more than 33% of the population. Prices average €25 depending on the bundle.

Telefonica, Jazztel, and Wanadoo all provide DSL based television services (Imagenio, Jazztelia TV and Wanadoo TV respectively).

Sweden

In Sweden, household broadband is mainly available through cable (in speeds of 128 Kbps to 8 Mbps) and ADSL (256 Kbps to 24 Mbps), but in many places also through copper Ethernet LAN networked via fibre MANs connecting buildings. Symmetric broadband Internet access of 100 Mbps is available for USD 40 a month, as of October 2005. In Lund, one service offers 1 Gbit/s connections.

There has been a low level of competition in ADSL services, primarily because nearly all POTS copper is owned by Skanova (a subsidiary of TeliaSonera), who have made it difficult and expensive for third parties to gain access to the telephone stations. Nearly all ADSL provided today is through the "Skanova broadband platform", while other providers who have earlier tried to supply ADSL independently have gone over to Skanova (Bonet/Bostream), or gone bankrupt (Xpress ADSL).

Speed:

  • 8/1 Mbps in all 290 municipalities. 24/1 Mbps in 100 of 290 municipalities.

Cost:

  • 400 kronor (US$57) per month

Market:

  • The wired market has seen large investments, such as those from the Carlyle Group, a leading investment company which used to hold 21.6% of the Bredbandsbolaget AB equity. In July 2005 Bredbandsbolaget was bought by Norwegian Telenor ASA. Bredbandsbolaget have recently performed a string of acquisitions of weaker competitors. The wireless broadband market have also seen large foreign direct investments; for example Hutchison Whampoa's investments in the Scandinavian 3 (telecommunications).

Switzerland

In Switzerland, approximately two thirds of home broadband subscriptions are via ADSL, with the remaining third using Cable [24]. Other xDSL technologies, satellite access and fiber channels are available, but are generally used by businesses due to their cost.

The typical home ADSL user has three speed choices [25]:

  • 2000/100 for CHF 49.- a month
  • 3500/300 for CHF 69.- a month
  • 5000/300 for CHF 99.- a month

The above prices are examples from Bluewin, the leading Swiss ISP, as of May 2006.

There are usually no overages for traffic, as there is for the most part no monthly traffic limit. There is the occasional sign-up cost, which can cost up to CHF 100.-. Upon signing up with an ISP, one can choose to buy an analogue or ISDN ADSL modem, which can cost from CHF 50.- to 200.- depending on its' features. One can also ask a technician to install the material on-site, for approximately CHF 150.-.

Business ADSL offers are similar in speed to home offers. The following is Bluewin's fastest offer as of April 2006 [26]:

  • 6000/600 for CHF 349.- a month, with a 500.00 activation charge.

Typical added business services include priority over other traffic, thereby ensuring full speed, a hardware firewall solution to improve network security, and priority technical support.

ADSL providers in Switzerland and their websites:

The Swiss ADSL infrastructure is owned by Swisscom, the (DSLAM hardware and software is provided by Alcatel.

Turkey

In Turkey ADSL service is provided since 2003 by Türk Telekom - Template:Tr icon http://www.telekom.gov.tr, which has become a private company (TTNet A.Ş. - Template:Tr icon http://www.ttnet.net.tr/) in 2006. The current download/upload speed options are 256/64, 512/128, 1024/256, and 2048/512 Kbps. There are also options of 3, 6 and 9 GB download per-month limit for the speed of 1024/256 Kbps.

Starting from 1 August 2006, TTNet approximate prices (see http://www.ttnet.net.tr/adslucret.htm) are as follows:

  • 256/64 Kbps for €25 (this option is being phased out)
  • 512/128 Kbps for €45
  • 1024/256 Kbps for €70
  • 2048/512 Kbps for €115

For the 3, 6 and 9 GB download per-month limits (at 1024/256 Kbps speed) the approximate prices are:

  • 3 GB for €15
  • 6 GB for €25
  • 9 GB for €35

Notes:

  • The same options and prices are offered for home and business users.
  • All prices include VAT and "Special Communication Tax".
  • Approximately €5 per 1 GB download is charged for exceeding limits.

Other ADSL providers in Turkey are given below. They have similar prices and options, because they are using the POTS infrastructure of TTNet. They have very few subscribers compared to TTNet.

United Kingdom

ADSL was introduced to the UK in trial stages in the late 1990s and a commercial product was launched in 2000. In the United Kingdom, most exchanges, local loops and backhauls are owned and managed by BT Wholesale, who then sell on connectivity to ISPs, who provide the actual connectivity with the Internet (in most cases), telephone support, billing and added features. BT currently operate 5591 exchanges all over the UK with the vast majority being enabled for ADSL. Only a relative handful have not been upgraded to support ADSL products - in fact it is under 100 of the smallest and most rural exchanges. Some exchanges, numbering under 1000, have been upgraded to support SDSL products. However, these exchanges are often the larger exchanges based in major towns and cities so they still cover a large proportion of the population. SDSL products are aimed more at business customers and are priced higher than ADSL services.

Up until the launch of "Max" services, the ADSL packages available from BT Wholesale were known as IPStream Home 250, Home 500, Home 1000 and Home 2000 (contention ratio of 50:1); and Office 500, Office 1000, and Office 2000 (contention ratio of 20:1). The number in the product name indicates the downstream data rate in kilobits per second. The upstream data rate is up to 250 Kbps for all products.

For BT Wholesale ADSL products, users initially had to live within 3.5 kilometers of the local telephone exchange to receive ADSL, but this limit was increased thanks to RADSL (Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line), although users with RADSL may have a reduced upstream rate, depending on the quality of their line. There are still areas that cannot receive ADSL because of technical limitations, not least of which networks in housing areas built with aluminium cable rather than copper in the 1980s and 1990s, and areas served by optical fibre (TPON), though these are slowly being serviced with copper.

In September 2004, BT Wholesale removed the line length / loss limits for 500 Kbps ADSL, instead employing a tactic of "suck it and see" — enabling the line, then seeing if ADSL would work on it. This sometimes includes the installation of a filtered faceplate on the customer's master socket, so as to eliminate poor quality telephone extension cables inside the customer's premises which can be a source of high frequency noise.

In the past, the majority of home users used packages with 500 Kbps (downstream) and 250 Kbps (upstream) with a 50:1 contention ratio, typically costing between £20 and £30 per month. However, BT Wholesale introduced the option of a new charging structure to ISPs which means that the wholesale service cost was the same regardless of the ADSL data rate, with charges instead being based on the amount of data transferred. Nowadays, most home users use a package whose data rate is only limited by the technical limitations of their telephone line. Initially this was 2 Mbps downstream in the £20–£30 per month price range. Nowadays, most home products are ADSL Max based (up to 7.15 Mbps) and priced in the £15–30 per month price range.

Following successful trials, BT announced the availability of higher speed services known as BT ADSL Max and BT ADSL Max Premium in March 2006. BT made the "Max" product available to more than 5300 exchanges, serving around 99% of UK households and businesses.

Both Max services offer downstream data rates of up to 7.15 Mbps. Upstream data rates are up to 400 Kbps for the standard product and up to 750 Kbps for the premium product. (Whilst the maximum downstream data rate for IPStream Max is often touted as 8 Mbps, this is in fact misleading because, in a departure from previous practice, it actually refers to the gross ATM data rate. The maximum data rata available at the IP level is 7.15 Mbps; the maximum TCP payload rate — the rate you would actually see for file transfer — would be about 7.0 Mbps.)

The actual downstream data rate achieved on any given Max line is subject to the capabilities of the line. Depending on the stable ADSL synchonisation rate negotiated, BT's system applies a fixed rate limit from one of the following data rates: 160 Kbps, 250 Kbps, 500 Kbps, then in 500 Kbps steps up to 7.0 Mbps, then a final maxium rate of 7.15 Mbps.

Contention ratios are no longer officially stated either, except that the Office products will generally see a reduced level of contention to their Home counterparts. This is the product of amalgamating Home and Office users onto a single consolidated, but larger, virtual path.

Several companies are also operating their own services using unbundled local loops, notably Bulldog Communications in the London area, and Easynet, through their consumer sister company UK Online, who have enabled exchanges all across the country, from London to Central Scotland. As such, packages are available with typical speeds of 4 Mbps, 8 Mbps or up to 24 Mbps downstream in certain areas. Because these companies do not have to conform to the same regulatory conditions as BT, they can offer products at sometimes considerably lower prices — UK Online recently announced a 512 Kbps product for £9.99 per month. Another company, Be*, is offering speeds of up to 24 Mbps downstream, using ADSL2+ but this is only available on a small number of exchanges mostly in the London area. New exchanges are being upgraded by these companies every day, increasing speeds across the country. Again these products are often priced in the £20-30 per month range.

Major resources for UK broadband information are ADSLGuide and Broadband Zilla.

On August 13, 2004 the ISP Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve and now Orange SA in the UK) were told by the Advertising Standards Authority to change the way that they advertised their 512 Kbps broadband service in Britain, removing the words "full speed" which rival companies claimed was misleading people into thinking it was the fastest available service. In a similar way, on April 9, 2003 the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against ISP NTL, saying that NTL's 128 Kbps cable modem service must not be marketed as "broadband". Ofcom reported in June 2005 that there were more broadband than dial-up connections for the first time in history.[32]. In the third quarter of 2005 with the merger of NTL and Telewest, a new alliance was formed to create the largest market share of broadband users. This alliance brought about huge increases in bandwidth allocations for customers (minimum speed increasing from the industry norm of 512 Kbps to 2 Mbps home lines with both companies planning to have all domestic customers upgraded to at least 4 Mbps downstream and ranging up to 10 Mbps and beyond by mid-2006.) along with the supply of integrated services such as Digital TV and Phone packages.

8 Mbps[33] enabled exchanges have begun appearing in larger cities, with British Telecom announcing[34] that more than 5300 exchanges will be upgraded to allow 99.6% of homes in the UK access to the higher speeds.

See also May 2004 New Statesman supplement [35] on broadband.

Since 2003 BT has been introducing SDSL to exchanges in many of the major cities. Services are currently offered at upload/download speeds of 256 Kbps, 512 Kbps, 1 Mbps or 2 Mbps. Unlike ADSL, which is typically 256 Kbps upload, SDSL upload speeds are the same as the download speed. BT usually provide a new copper pair for SDSL installs, which can be used only for the SDSL connection. At a few hundred pounds a quarter, SDSL is significantly more expensive than ADSL, but is significantly cheaper than a leased line. SDSL is marketed to businesses and offers low contention ratios, and in some cases, a Service Level Agreement. At present, the BT Wholesale SDSL enablement programme has stalled, most probably due to a lack of uptake.

In 2006, the UK market has been about convergance and takeovers. Talk Talk threw down the gauntlet by offering so-called ‘free’ broadband along with their telephone package at around £20 a month. Rival, Orange (formerly Wanadoo) responded by offering ‘free’ broadband for mobile customers who pay more than £30 a month. Many other smaller ISPs have responded by offering similar bundled packages. O2 also entered the broadband market by taking over LLU provider BE, while Sky had already taken over LLU broadband provider Easynet. In July 2006, Sky entered the broadband arena by announcing 2 Mbps broadband to be available free to Sky customers and a higher speed connection at a lower price than most rivals.

External links

Oceania

Australia

In Australia the major telephone company Telstra owns the majority of the infrastructure and is the main provider of DSL at 1.5 Mbps. Competitors resell this, and some provide other options — such as their own DSL networks over Telstra copper wiring with speeds up to 24 Mbps, a cable network at 10 Mbps, business fibre in city centres, and various wireless choices (these are all predominantly in large cities).

Like many ISPs around the world, the majority of Australian ISPs traffic shape residential customers after a monthly download quota has been exceeded. However, on a global scale, Australian ISPs offer extremely expensive prices per GB and the typical traffic shaping is 64k.

Common Telstra DSL

ADSL became available in 2000 and Telstra limits ADSL speeds to 1.5 Mbps downstream / 256 Kbps upstream, and also sells slower speeds of 256 Kbps/64 Kbps and 512 Kbps/128 Kbps. SDSL services at 256/256 and 512/512 are available but cost a lot more. It is cheaper to get 24 MBits down and 1 MBit up from other providers than to purchase an SDSL connection that overall slower.

Telstra is now legally required to sell its ADSL service wholesale to other ISPs. Until early 2002, Telstra's retail branch BigPond was the only reseller. Since then, the main ISPs to resell Telstra's ADSL include:

(source The Australian, early March 06, cited in [36])

Telstra has been criticised for limiting their ADSL DSLAM download speed to a maximum of 1.5 Mbps (and 256 Kbps upload), whereas the maximum ADSL speed possible is 8 Mbps download (1 Mbps upload), and ADSL2+ allows 24 Mbps downloads. They say they limit their speed to 1.5 Mbps as they want to ensure everybody can get the same speed of service, though others claim they limit their DSLAM speed is so as to not kill off its own high speed data services which charge expensive premiums for 2 Mbps speeds.

Faster broadband

Faster broadband speeds are available in Australia. Telstra & Optus both own separate cable networks capable of higher speeds (Telstra 17 Mbps, Optus 10 Mbps), though the network is limited and covers only parts of a few major cities (these are not sold wholesale). The government has regulated access for competitors to Telstra's exchanges and their copper phone lines (local loop unbundling), and several ISPs have installed their own hardware DSLAMs - and now offer broadband speeds up to 24 Mbps.

ISPs who are installing their own DSLAMs include iiNet, TPG, Internode, TPG Internet, OptusNet, Primus, Powertel & Adam Internet. Most offer ADSL2+ (with speeds up to 24 Mbps), though in 2006 some still provide ADSL1 (with speeds up to 8 Mbps). Only Optus, Primus, & Powertel offer their own standard telephony services over these lines, other ISPs resell Telstra's phone services alongside their own ADSL or do not bundle phone services.

In 2005, Telstra announced [37] it would invest AUD $210 million in upgrading all their ADSL exchanges to support ADSL2+ by mid 2006, though they did not say whether they would continue to restrict access speeds. However, in 2006, they announced new intentions to substantially alter their copper phone network and setup a "Fibre to the Node (FTTN)" network. This was later scrapped, with Telstra citing [38] regulations forcing it to provide wholesale access to its competitors as a reason to discontinue the investment.

Upload speeds

One thing that is a big issue for Australian web developers is that even the high speed connections come with upload speeds that are up to 60 times slower than their download speed. On a global scale, Australia's DL/UL ratio would definitely stand out from the crowd with its seemingly slow speeds. For example, Telstra Bigpond's 17 Mbit cable plan only has an upload speed of 256 Kbps (60:1.) In European countries connections with 1 Mbps download speeds would have a 256 Kbps upload (4:1.)

Other developments.

There are ongoing developments in Australia. This includes fibre networks offered by Telstra and competitors in major cities (eg: east-coast capitals by Powertel, and mid to west-coast capitals by Amcom). Three phone networks provide 3G data connectivity, Telstra via EVDO, and Optus and Vodafone via 3GSM. Wireless networks are provided by Unwired, and iBurst in several cities, and Austar has announced wireless plans for regional areas (and Internode received state government funding for wireless in rural South Australia). The federal government is financially aiding better rural broadband access, including encouraging competition where feasible as these are less profitable areas - with less customers, greater line lengths and a higher ULL wholesale line rental from Telstra, and higher rates from Telstra charges for data connections (backhaul) to the cities.

External links

Popular community website Whirlpool acts as a pseudo-watchdog for the broadband industry in Australia with many ISP representatives contributing to its wiki and forum discussions.

  • Whirlpool - Australian ADSL news, information, and forums

New Zealand

In New Zealand the major telephone company Telecom New Zealand owns the majority of the infrastructure and is the only provider of DSL, which they wholesale to their subsidiary Xtra (the largest ISP in New Zealand), as well as many of Telecom's "competitors", with varying speeds and download limits. Download speeds are up to 3.5 Mbps, and most services limit speeds (bandwidth cap) to 64 Kbps after going over an allocated allowance, others charging per MiB/GiB over a set limit. There are no plans faster than 256kbit/s with unlimited usage.

Telecom has a monopoly on the local loop. There are alternatives such as TelstraClear's cable internet in Wellington and Christchurch, satellite, and wireless in some locations - but products based on Telecom's DSL are the norm, as other networks do not have the same coverage nor pricing the DSL network has. In May 2006 the government announced a comprehensive telecommunications package including unbundling of the local loop to allow other ISPs to compete more effectively against Telecom's DSL offerings.

The largest ISPs in New Zealand are XTRA (Telecom NZ), TelstraClear, ihug, Orcon, Slingshot, and Woosh Wireless.

DSL History
  • 1999 - Telecom New Zealand began providing broadband internet by way of ADSL under the name JetStream. There was a progressive roll out into local exchanges. Telecom's JetStream services were offered by many different service providers, with Telecom billing for all data usage and the ISP charging for authentication and other services such as a static IP address.
    • Home users were offered 'starter' plans at 128 Kbps upload and download. Speeds greater than 128 Kbps were extremely expensive and extra data (beyond the allowance) was charged at over $0.10 per MB. Telecom progressively introduced lower cost home options.
    • Businessses were able to access 'full speed' services at up to 8 Mbps downstream and 800 Kbps upstream, with data charges up to $0.20 per MB.
  • March 2004 - a 256 Kbps home service was introduced with a 10 GB allowance for NZ$70.
  • 2005 - the government mandated Unbundled Bitstream Service (UBS) at a maximum upstream bandwidth of 128 Kbps. This allowed ISPs to bill for their client's data usage. Telecom initially specified a 256 Kbps downstream, but added 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps options later in the year. Telecom provided this in addition to the Jetstream plans.
  • In late 2005 Telecom cancelled previous wholesale arrangements for JetStream plans with other ISPs. Only Telecom's own ISP, Xtra, could sell plans faster than the UBS options and they still offer the 8 Mbps/800 Kbps plans - now exclusively. ISPs ihug and Slingshot are still lobbying to have full-speed access to ADSL, at up to 8 Mbps
  • February 2006 - Telecom announced its intention to offer a speed upgrade on their wholesale. It was reported that some providers would likely reject the offer, though Telecom believed that negotiations were continuing well.
  • April 2006 - in April 2006 Telecom New Zealand introduced new cheaper services with download speeds up to 3.5 Mbps - some thought this was to avoid regulatory Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).
  • May 2006 - Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) was announced as part of a comprehensive telecommunications package
Current DSL

In early 2006, there were growing concerns about below par broadband in New Zealand. On the whole, Telecom's upstream speeds (128 Kbps) and data caps had resulted in New Zealand's internet connections being ranked amongst the worst in the OECD. Competitors were making some changes such as offering higher data caps (XTRA's data caps averaged from 1 to 10 gigabytes of data per month, while competitors such as ihug offered 40 and 60 GB options, or xnet who offered free national data on their ADSL plans.) In mid 2006, Telecom still had control over the network including speeds and how much data they supplied each "UBS" customer

Amidst growing pressure from the government, Telecom boosted downloads to 3.5 Mbps and uploads to 512 Kbps (at high costs such as $20/mth more just for increased upload speeds). Competitors and customers reported slower than expected speeds, with one ISP director criticizing Telecom's backhaul network. The new plans were also criticised for reducing the data caps on downloads.

The government has now mandated local loop unbundling, which allows other ISPs to setup their own infrastructure and services, using only Telecom's existing copper wiring and exchanges. Several countries do similarly to compete more effectively with the incumbent's offerings. They also mandated Naked DSL, and unconstrained UBS (which may see rapid changes in ISP offerings). The Telecommunications Minister, David Cunliffe, expected that the market would feel the effects from 2007-2009, with policy to be enacted commencing at the Budget in May 2006. As a part of the policy, the Government will additionally take steps to encourage private sector investment in improving rural telecommunications services, and will take steps to further open up the marketplace to alternative delivery media, such as fibre optics, cable and satellite.

Competitive broadband

TelstraClear (owned by Australia's dominant telecommunications company, Telstra) is Telecom's biggest competitor, investing heavily in infrastructure throughout New Zealand. They have been laying fibre networks in several cities, and are building a fibre backbone throughout New Zealand. TelstraClear offer their own cable television network with internet broadband in Wellington and Christchurch - at their entry level they offer 1 GB of data and 2 Mbps both up and down (5x more data, 8x faster download speed and 16x faster upload speed for a similar price as Telecom's entry level - $30). Now also offering 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.

There are multiple wireless broadband options from companies such as Vodafone, Woosh, & BCL which are aiming at nationwide coverage, as well as smaller providers for individual towns. Satellite is available from Bordernet and ICONZ for people in areas unserviced by broadband, and fibre is being developed by several companies in individual cities. This report summarises these possibilities as of September 2005.

The most likely point of broadband competition will be with Telecom's local loop unbundling. The ISPANZ group of ISPs are most likely to develop this, including TelstraClear, ihug, Orcon, & Slingshot (ihug already competes similarly in Australia, see iiNet). Possibilities include ADSL2+ at speeds up to 24 Mbps (depending on distance from the exchange), Voice over IP (& regular phones), and future digital TV in triple play offerings.

External links

  • NZDSL - New Zealand ADSL and Broadband News, Information, Forums and Speed Test.
  • ISPtalk - New Zealand internet speed test and information.

References

  1. ^ "50 Megs for $90 from Verizon FiOS". GigaOM. 2006-07-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "France Télécom a raccordé en Très Haut Débit des clients à Paris et dans les Hauts de Seine" (HTML, in French) (Press release). France Télécom. 2006-07-25. Retrieved 2006-08-04. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ "2ème trimestre 2006 - Résultats provisoires". L'Observatoire de l’Internet haut débit (in French). Arcep. 2006-08-30.
  4. ^ "Le tableau de bord du 30 juin 2006". Observatoire dégroupage et bitstream (in French). ARCEP. 2006-08-30.
  5. ^ "1H 2006 Revenues" (PDF) (Press release). Iliad. 2006-07-31.
  6. ^ "2005 Results Presentation" (PDF) (Press release). Iliad. March, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-04. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Andy Reinhardt (2005-12-05). "The Telecom Exploits Of Iliad" (HTML). European business. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  8. ^ "Telephone line rental is now included in the Freebox subscription in non-unbundled areas" (PDF) (Press release). iliad. 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  9. ^ "the end of traditional telephone subscriptions in France" (Press release). Neuf Cegetel. 2006-08-17. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  10. ^ "Free est parvenu à délivrer grâce aux technologies DSL un débit maximum de 174 Mbps en réception et 18 Mbps en émission" (PDF) (Press release). Iliad. 2005-11-25. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  11. ^ "Freebox TV is now multi-device enabled!" (PDF) (Press release). Iliad. 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  12. ^ "Freebox subscribers now have their own home media center" (Press release). Iliad. 2005-06-22. {{cite press release}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help); Text "http://www.iliad.fr/en/presse/2005/Cp_Free_220605-Eng.pdf" ignored (help)
  13. ^ "New HD Freebox Released" (PDF) (Press release). Iliad. 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  14. ^ "Neuf Cegetel, leading the way in fixed/mobile convergence, is launching TWIN, the first GSM/WiFi hybrid telephone on the consumer market" (HTML) (Press release). Neuf Cegetel. 2006-05-30. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  15. ^ "France Telecom Launches the New Orange: a Single Brand for Internet, TV and Mobile, a Leading Brand In Opening Up Digital Services" (HTML) (Press release). France Telecom. 2006-05-31. Retrieved 2006-08-04.

External links

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