As per incumbent telephone company obligations, twisted “twisted pair copper connections connections” were deployed by Telus TELUS to virtually all residential and business premises in rural Alberta. However, the physical limitations of twisted pair copper loops are such that, in rural areas, only dial-up internet connection speeds are possible over this infrastructure.
Digital subscriber line (DSL) refers to a technology that can be used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. The DSL connections available in urban regions are not widely available to rural customers because DSL performance degrades as the distance from the digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) increases, making connectivity in remote sites utilizing copper difficult and expensive. For example, 5 Mbps download speeds on ADSL and ADSL2/2+ technologies are only possible at line distances of less than 4 km from the DSLAM exchange point92.93
Advanced DSL technologies are still being developed, although it’s not known how much it could be used in Alberta, as most landline solutions appear to be moving to fibre. G.fast is a DSL technology that can offer speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. It has been deployed in parts of the United States and Europe, but there are no known deployments in Canada. Emerging DSL technologies like G.mgfast (XG-fast/NG-fast) and Terabit DSL (Waveguide over Copper) promise speeds of 5 Gbps, all the way up to 1,000 Gbps (1 Tbps)93Advances in DSL technology, most notably G.fast, can reportedly deliver download speeds of 170 Mbps over a distance of 0.4 km on a single twisted copper pair wire;94 however, the first commercial deployment of this technology has only recently been announced for Taiwan95 and the timeline for its availability in Canada is not known.
Shaw is a major provider of wireline coaxial cable connections in rural parts of the province. Broadband internet access over coaxial cable cables leverages the data transmitted over a cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) standard. This requires two components: a cable modem termination system, usually located at the head-end of the network, and an end-user cable modem device located at the customer’s premise. Modern cable networks often have a hybrid fibre-coaxial cable architecture, where fibre to the curb or cabinet is installed within 1 km of the home and coaxial cable connects the fibre to the customer’s home.96
With DOCSIS 3.0, the maximum download and upload rates are 172 Mbps (for 4 channels) and 123 Mbps (for 4 channels), respectively, over hybrid fibre-coaxial cable. The maximum distance between the cable modem termination system and the end-user cable modem device is 160 km.97
In practice, the bandwidth on a DOCSIS network is a shared commodity, where the actual download/upload rates are dependent on the number of concurrent customers actively using a coaxial cable segment. DOCSIS 3.0 is a significant leap over DOCSIS 2.0, as it has improved uplink data rates per channel, and enables aggregation of multiple channels, leading to significant throughput bandwidth improvements.
The next-generation DOCSIS 3.1 standard is expected to revolutionize hybrid fibre-coaxial cable connections by providing up to 10 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload network throughput and significant improvements in latency.98 Shaw has invested heavily in DOCSIS 3.1 technology and expects to implement it in its wireline network by the end of fiscal 2017.99
For end-users in rural communities that are connected to modern hybrid fibre-coaxial networks and depend on its deployment, DOCSIS 3.1 could provide access to Gigabit internet services.
Shaw’s top residential service offering of 1 Gbps download is achieved using a FTTN architecture made up of fibre to the nodes in its service communities, and copper cable to each home94. Shaw’s Gig service is available wherever Shaw is offered in Alberta, meaning that all of its middle-mile services must be fibre.
References
92Increase
References
93. Increase Your Broadband Speed. Chart of ADSL and ADSL2+ Speed Versus Distance. 25 October 20122019. Accessed 12 June 2016.
94. Network World. DSL reaches speeds of 170 Mbps. 24 March 2015. Accessed 12 June 2016.
95. Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent and Chunghwa Telecom launch world’s first commercial deployment of G.fast ultra-broadband access technology in Taiwan. 14 September 2015. Accessed 12 June 2016.
96. FTTH Council Europe. FTTH Handbook, 5th edition. P. 6-7.
97. De Silva, M.M. Cable and Wireless Networks: Theory and Practice. 2016. P. 646-647.
98. CableLabs. DOCSIS 3.1 Featured Technology03 March 2021.
93Wikipedia. G.fast - Wikipedia. 19 February 2021. Accessed 03 March 2021. Accessed 20 July 2016.
99. Shaw. Shaw Announces Third Quarter and Year-to-Date Results. Accessed 20 July 2016.