The current networking infrastructure cannot continue to support the increased need for bandwidth. People demand the same access to bandwidth from home that they are accustomed to at work. Access to the pipeline of information should not stop when one leaves the office for the day.

While xDSL and cable modem services offer a significant speed advantage over dial-up modems, they lack the capacity to support converged network bandwidth. In addition, forward-looking technologies such as vDSL, broadband wireless and free-space optics carry issues ranging from environmental interference to inadequate speed.

With this in mind, the IEEE, with Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, 3Com, Nokia and Lucent participating, first met last November to devise a way to bring high-speed, low-cost broadband directly to the home. Thus, the 802.3 EFM study group was born. One segment of the IEEE 802.3 EFM standard, to be finalized next year, will enable Ethernet deployment to the home over existing copper telephone wires.

In the LAN, Ethernet is the clear network of choice for the deployment of IP-based services and content. Delivering Ethernet to the home will be the final piece of the global IP network puzzle. Copper-based Ethernet will deliver data at speeds of many tens of Mbits per second, enough to serve consumers' voice, data and video needs. Deploying Ethernet over the copper infrastructure is the broadband solution of the future for the home user.

Ethernet to the home has been considered a novelty due to the immense cost of delivering fiber to the doorstep. While the IEEE plans to ratify a standard that calls for delivering fiber directly to the home, typically only large cities or cash-rich utilities are able to undertake such a project due to immense costs. Still, only a handful of large cities have tried to implement fiber to the doorstep, encountering mixed results. Using the existing copper twisted-pair infrastructure will allow countless cities the option of offering high-speed, low-cost broadband to their residents.

Another factor that kept Ethernet from being viable for the home was a lack of technical advances in delivering Ethernet over copper wires. But developments in CMOS technology and signal processing cleared the way.

Only one solution will fulfill the broadband promise to the home: Ethernet over copper. With close to 1 billion telephone wires available, it would be a waste to disregard the existing copper infrastructure. Because Ethernet is so successful for the workplace, it is time to give the home user a taste of the power of true broadband.

Lassie, come home, and bring Ethernet with you because Timmy is stuck downloading a colossal file.

Paul Costigan is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Massana Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.).