HDVSL

HDVSL is an Indian DSL standard. India has over 2.5 million DSL subscribers, 80% of which are on the ADSL2+ standard.

Indian DSL penetration has been limited by the absence of personal computers in Indian homes. Only an estimated 3 million of the 200 million Indian homes own a personal computer. Most Government plans to increase PC penetration in recent years have failed. Reasons for failure include the cost of a PC, language, computer illiteracy etc.

India has its own homegrown DSL standard called HDVSL (High definition video over subscriber line) which successfully addresses this problem. The HDVSL standard operates a 36 Mbit/s duplex ethernet link - and the HDVSL modem has a direct connection to a display eliminating the need for a terminal or client altogether in the home. The HDVSL modem also acts as a set top box and dsl modem substitute for home internet connectivity on a television screen. HDVSL has an estimated 250K homes under deployment in India and China - mostly over a fourth wire - the intercom wire (which is used for inbuilding security systems). The HDVSL standard is likely to see large scale commercialisation in 2008. In addition, there have been several startups which attempt to provide thin client and remote computing based solutions.