This paper presents various aspects of developing an access network for high speed data communications using the existing copper cables. In recent years, there has been a phenomenal growth in data communication services including the Internet. The ever-increasing multimedia content such as pictures, video clips and audio on the Internet has placed an increasing demand for higher access speeds. This has led to the development of a family of digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies capable of delivering megabits of data over existing unshielded twisted pair. Several short and long term options available to implement these DSL technologies in a typical telecommunication scenario, such as in Brunei Darussalam, are presented. It is shown that the upcoming technologies can meet the challenges of the high bandwidth multimedia applications such as smart schools, tele-shopping etc. M M Poulose and Pg Suhaimi bin Pg Hj Bakar; Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering Institut Teknologi Brunei.
