The view from Dr Reynolds’ house: 42Mbit/s copper

At Telecom’s quarterly result briefing this morning, chief executive Paul Reynolds announced a further series of exchanges are being upgraded to VDSL2.

And, by the by, Dr Reynolds said he’s trialling this super-fast of copper connection - and clocking download speeds in the region of 40Mbit/s to 42Mbit/s.

To put that in context, the fastest DSL connections today, based on ADSL2+ technology, clock around 16Mbit/s. Many get half that.

When I tweeted the good doctor’s speed claims, PC World’s Ted Gibbons was quick to point out that it’s “nice to have a network all to yourself”.

True.

But Dr Reynolds went on to say that VDSL2 could be tweaked to hit 100Mbit/s.

He could have said 150Mbit/s or faster, quoting trials overseas, but 100Mbit/s had a more poetic ring about it - being the speed that Communications Minister Steven Joyce habitually quotes for fibre optic cable.

Fibre still trumps copper-based VDSL2 on most levels.

While VDSL2 requires you to live within 2km - or, for the full effect, 1km - of your local exchange or cabinet.

Fibre bandwidth, on the other hand, doesn’t degrade with distance. And, unlike VDSL2, you get full whack speed for uploads too.

Dr Reynolds was careful to say that he saw VDSL2 as a complement to fibre to the node, and that he is a fully paid up fan of fibre (if still struggling to see how the government's mooted subsidised regional model, and its muddy rate of return, can be balanced with shareholder interests).

But nevertheless, VDSL2 would be extremely welcome in many households that face a six to 10 year wait for crown-subsidised fibre-to-the-home.

Unfortutunately, there's no current timetable to roll-out VDSL2.

There are no technical hold-ups, but Telecom Wholesale is locking horns with the Commerce Commission over whether it can charge an extra $20 a month for this premium service (Orcon, Vodafone and other interpret regulations as saying DSL is DSL, and there can only be one price. Both also want better terms to put their own ADSL2+ or VDSL2 gear into Telecom's roadside cabinets.)