Intel adds 2 DSL chips to portfolio

As demand for fast digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet-access explodes

across the United States and elsewhere, Intel said it had added two new DSL

chips to its product line.

The new DSL chips combine many functions into one piece to boost performance.

One of the new chips supports voice and data in DSL devices, and the other is

for data-only equipment. Intel expects sales of networking and communications

chips, already accounting for about 20 per cent of Intel's revenue, to grow by

50 per cent a year, compared with a 10 per cent growth in microprocessor sales.

Currently, there are 4 million DSL lines active in the US. That number is

expected to double each year through 2003 to more than 30 million households.

The same number of lines are expected to be installed in other parts of the

world.