Most computers use copper wire to connect to networks because it's cheap, but that technology has gone about as far as it can go, said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel's Communications Group. To deal with the problem, the company is working to improve fiber-optic networks, which carry information in the form of light pulses rather than electrical signals. "We are reaching the limits of copper to carry signals. We've almost got a wall in front of us. After 100 years of being able to send signals by copper, we're reaching the end of that," Maloney said in a keynote speech at the company's Intel Developer Forum here.

CNET también está disponible en español, Don't show this again, Graeme Wearden of ZDNet UK reported from London, To read the full story, visit ZDNet UK, British Telecommunications announced on Wednesday that it is launching a trial of services that could be used by U.K, firms as a low-cost alternative to leased lines, The trial will begin in October with BT offering two wholesale SDSL (symmetric DSL) products from 20 London-based local exchanges, By December, BT plans to have extended vanellope von schweetz inspired iphone case the trial to involve 50 local exchanges around Britain..

BT had been expected to launch an SDSL trial last year, but BT said Wednesday that this was cancelled after technical problems. An SDSL service is described as "symmetric" because the upload speed--from end-user to network--is as fast as the download speed. BT's two trial products, called BT IPStream Symmetric and BT DataStream Symmetric, both give data-transfer rates of up to 2 megabits per second in both directions. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion.

CNET también está disponible en español, Don't show this again, In determining the amount of bandwidth companies need in the first place, almost 70 percent of those surveyed said security and "hosted or Internet-accessible applications" were important factors for their main offices, vanellope von schweetz inspired iphone case Security was not as major a concern when determining bandwidth needs for branch offices, however, For those willing to test the broadband waters, DSL is the most popular choice, with 37 percent of respondents saying they would choose DSL for their main office over cable, fixed wireless and satellite Internet connections..

While broadband services have begun to catch on with consumers, spending on telecom services by major corporations has slowed. Companies have also become cautious about new investments, because of financial troubles at some broadband providers. Corporations are cautious about using broadband Internet services in essential areas of their business, according to a new study. More than 20 percent of respondents said they would not use any type of broadband service in their main offices. The study, conducted by In-Stat/MDR, surveyed 109 "key decision makers" at large businesses between April and July of 2002.