French test megafast broadband

THE FRENCH are testing a new high speed broadband system in Paris. Based on an accepted ITU standard - Giga Passive Optical Network (GPON) - it will deliver a theoretical maximum data rate of 2.5Gbit/s downstream, and 1.2Gbit/s upstream.

How on Earth a typical consumer PC will cope with such speeds remains unclear. A typical PC Ethernet port is rated at a maximum 100 Mbit/s.

Anyway, entrenched telecoms supplier, France Telecom, is claiming to have installed 100 kilometres of new fibre optical cable which will be able to reach homes in six out of the 20 districts in Paris plus a few surrounding towns.

In an impending trial around 100 Guinea pigs will be trying out the system. The plan is to test out interactive digital television services plus videoconferencing. France Telecom will also test new content-sharing and gaming services.

Given the Internet's previous history of usage, this will mean that French nerds will be able to download porn in the bat of an eye.

More on this story at Infoworld. µ