Telstra: VDSL? -- 'No thanks'

Very high speed DSL, or VDSL, was once hailed as a possible source of relief for regional areas starved of broadband access on a par with that available to metropolitan centres.

It allows data to be carried over copper pair lines at up to 50Mbps over short distances of 500 metres and 25Mbps over one kilometre.

However, Telstra has definitively ruled-out the possibility of deploying VDSL, simultaneously refuting claims that it has been trialling the technology discreetly.

"Telstra is not interested in pursuing VDSL. We are not trialling VDSL. We see fibre to the premises as the most likely technology to support very high speed access services of the future," said a spokesperson for the carrier.

Telstra said that current Australian Communications Industry Forum codes prevent deployment of VDSL on unconditioned local loop services.

The carrier released the statement yesterday in answer to industry sources who claimed to have sighted Telstra VDSL-compatible customer equipment installed at a medium-sized enterprise in Victoria.

Telstra said some companies maybe using the standard as in-building access technology offering an explanation for the sightings.

The statement comes amid apparent concern among fibre-optic network providers that Telstra is contemplating the technology to bring high-speed Internet access to the door.