ADSL Lite - Definition and Overview

ADSL Lite has become popular as a last mile solution mainly because it is splitterless. Without a splitter, an ADSL Lite modem can simply be plugged into a phone jack in the customer's home.Other voice and data services can affect the performance of ADSL Lite. For example, basic rate interface (BRI) is an ISDN service that can cause interference if it is bundled in the same cable with ADSL Lite services. This interference is called cross talk.

Physical line conditions can also cause problems for ADSL Lite services. Bridged taps and load coils are examples of two such barriers. A bridged tap is any part of the local loop that is not in the direct transmission path between the CO and the service user. If there are too many bridge taps or if they are too close together, ADSL Lite services cannot function. Load coils are placed on longer phone lines to improve the voice frequency response characteristics. A coil is an inductor that acts like a low pass filter—it doesn't allow high frequencies through. Since ADSL Lite uses higher frequencies, it does not work on lines that have load coils.

Adsl lite is a lower standard used more often in developing conutries in the third world such as Malaysia, where the main consumer broadband is provided by the Telekom Malaysia under the brand streamyx. It uses ADSL Modulation T1_413 and has Downstream Data Rate of 1024kbps and Upstream Data Rate of 384kbps.

This is the most cost effective way to provide a form of broadband which is affordable to population in Malaysia where standard of living lower compared to the US or Japan.Compared to USA where typical broaband on adsl is in Magabits up and down.Furthermore the internet link to the rest of the internet via undersea cables which run typically at 155 megabits severely limits how much bandwidth can be given to consumers per head.