ISPreview - The Future of ISDN

ISPreview investigates the future of ISDN in the UK

The Future of ISDN
By Mark 'Killzat' Jackson : Sep 18th - 2000 : Page 1 of 5

"Up until BT turned ISDN into a consumer option late into 1997, it was only ever thought of as accessible through leased lines."


Back in 1989 a technology known as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), which some also crossed with IDSN (Integrated Digital Services Network), came into play as a digital site-to-site connection medium for large business. At the time Internet access hadn't publicly hit the UK and was still over a year away, thus ISDN was seen as a leased line only medium.

It compared much like business ADSL does today with 56Kbps modems. At speeds of up to 128Kbps, ISDN was a far cry from the savage transfer rates of 9,600Kbps modems, which were the very best for the time. Since then a lot has changed and in 1997 BT was able to migrate leased line ISDN to copper wires and home connections.

The success story gone wrong

Up until BT turned ISDN into a consumer option late into 1997, it was only ever thought of as accessible through leased lines. However BT soon came to realise that with the 2mbit > 155mbits T and OC connections coming of age, ISDN would have to be phased out or take on a new form.

History dictates that BT chose the latter and revived the services as Home Highway, a much cheaper way of using ISDN in homes and business by converting existing lines and not installing new digital ones. Now three years on (four if you count installation delays) and there is growing concern about ISDN's place as a competitive connection medium.

Ever since it first arrived the take up of ISDN has been slow, although nowhere near the slowness presented by Cable Modems and ADSL. With the recent advent of the aforementioned broadband services for far cheaper rates, concern is growing that BT's refusal to lower ISDN charges could doom it to death.

Yet despite high prices there are still more people having ISDN installed today than Cable Modems, ADSL and Satellite combined. It's not just coverage that plays the most important role; ISDN has other attributes as well.

Advantages and Disadvantages

When comparing with Cable Modems and ADSL, ISDN will always win out over coverage because it has 98 to 99% of the UK in its grasp. However it does have advantages over both ADSL and Cable Modems, some that won't change for three or four years:

ISDN Advantages:-

-99% UK Coverage:

As we said before, thanks to BT's Home Highway, if you can get a 56Kbps modem then you can get ISDN.

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