There are many ways to bring home a high-speed link beyond the 56-kbps limit that plain-old telephone service (POTS)-based V.90 performance allows. The methods include integrated-services digital network (ISDN), satellite links, cable modems, hybrid fiber-coax, and wireless local loops. But all these methods eventually encounter the virtually universal, metallic local loop that is the “last mile” between the phone company’s central office (CO) and the end user in the public switched-telephone network (PSTN). This loop can be a significant barrier to installing yet another type of path, or it can be a major opportunity—if you can effectively exploit the availability of this enormous, already-in-place link. Read the rest of this entry »