YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Most Yokota residents have heard plenty of rumors about how the new Internet, phone and television services will work once Allied Telesis takes control of all three in upcoming months.
Terms such as “ADSL2+” and “dedicated lines” may be leaving some residents confused about what exactly they will be purchasing.
In an interview on Wednesday, Cortney Grace, the Allied Telesis general manager, went into more detail about what all the jargon means and what Yokota customers can expect from the new services.
A network of fiber-optic cables is being set up across Yokota, replacing the copper cable that has been used to transmit data, said Grace, explaining that optical cables can transmit data faster to nodes near customers’ homes.
Allied then will use the existing copper wiring within customers’ homes in a process known as “loop shortening,” Grace said.
Shortening the “loop” through which data is transferred will give customers faster Internet connection speeds, he said.
The new system will enable delivery of Internet, phone and television services through direct, dedicated lines into customers’ homes.
Grace said that a 26 megabit-per-second data feed will be divided among the three services. Approximately 16 Mbps will be used to transmit data for television and telephone, leaving 10 Mbps for Internet users who subscribe to the premium service, he said.
Currently at Yokota, Internet users share data streams, meaning speeds fluctuate depending on how many people are using the Internet at a particular time.
With a dedicated line for each home, customers can expect to get much closer to, if not receive exactly, the Internet speed they pay for, said Grace, who added that customers no longer will have to sign back on to the Internet every few days.
Users also will have their own dedicated Internet protocol (IP) address — good news for video gamers who now will be able to host or play certain online games with other gamers on base.
Allied Telesis will be opening its store at the Yokota Community Center on Friday to sign up customers. Internet and phone services are expected to begin phasing into Yokota in February.
