Swedish broadband equipment maker Tilgin has launched a platform for home gateways that can handle gigabit speeds, according to PCWorld. The development of the platform, called Simba, is attributed to the availability of cheaper components as well as rising interest in 1Gbps broadband. For now, Tilgin says it expects 1Gbps home gateways based on Simba to be available by the end of the year. The company is certainly not alone in advancing the dream of 1Gbps to the home--Google has announced plans to offer 1Gbps broadband to people living in Kansas City, and Comcast earlier this month demonstrated a 1Gbps connection.

Gigabit speeds are already offered in Hong Kong and Japan, and are being rolled out in Singapore, where I live. I can sign up for 1Gbps broadband service today but the price is currently pegged at a rather exorbitant US$300 per month. In any case, faster broadband services are slowly but surely being made available to homes around the world.

Employees being able to tap into office servers at local area network (LAN) speeds can only open new opportunities and possibilities for telecommuting. For example, video conferencing and VoIP applications can be streamed from PBX systems located within corporate networks, while documents and network services can be accessed via VPN. Do you think the wide availability of gigabit home gateways will spur telecommuting?

For more:
- check out this article at PCWorld

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