said by patcat88:Wrong, it hands off at Layer 1, copper pair. Since in the USA almost all competitor ISPs must provide their own DSLAMs/termination modems. This isn't Canada where you get 1 fiber optic cable with all of your customers' ATM PVCs on it.
Wrong. Very few "providers" have their own equipment. They would rather piggyback off of the companies that actually build networks! Hnading off at the cable pair would require the non-LEC ISP's to have DSLAMS in every central office.