Data rides high on high-speed remote access

Internet and remote access services are growing by leaps and bounds, and major efforts are currently underway to provide greater bandwidth to the user by a multitude of access technologies, both wired and wireless. This article discusses the key access technologies currently being developed by vendors and deployed by service providers. It is expected that xDSL, cable data networks, and fixed and mobile wireless networks will be the hotbeds of tough competition, while direct satellite networks will hover over them with the potential to completely change the way the access networks are built. Irrespective of the ongoing debate on which technology would win or loose, in the world of real networks different access solutions will coexist, finding their own niches to meet the varying demands of performance and cost objectives for the end user.