Contention ratios to be used as DSL unique selling point

摘要

UK and German carriers and service providers appear to be increasingly likely to use contention ratios, which govern how much bandwidth users are guaranteed, as a key selling point for future DSL services. At the end of October, Thus launched a wholesale DSL service targeted at corporate users (see box) with contention rates of 1:1 and 5:1. This means that, in the case of a 500Kbit/sec service, the carrier has configured its network so that users with a 1:1 ratio are guaranteed to always receive a service of that speed. A 5:1 ratio means, in theory, that every consumer is guaranteed at least one-fifth of the available 500Kbit/sec available from the local BT switch, equivalent to only 100Kbit/sec.