This makes it ideal for home users and small businesses, who are slowly beginning to adopt it as isps and telecoms companies broaden the reach of their broadband net- works and improve their marketing. Most large isps in Europe now sell adsl connections for both home and business use.
Because adsl runs on standard copper wires with a direct one-to-one link to the exchange, rather than across shared cable, it will provide much more consistent performance than most of the alternatives. It requires only a special modem and, in some cases, a separate device to split the data and voice channels.
It is also much more widely available than equivalent services from cable networks, which require expensive investment and disruptive engineering work to extend their wires to people’s doorsteps. But many potential adsl subscribers, especially those in rural areas, have been disappointed to discover that they live or work too far from their nearest exchange to receive it. This is one reason why only 9% of UK internet users sub- scribed to broadband services in January 2003.
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