said by tschmidt:Fiber to the Node (FTTN) simply moves the DSLAM closer to the customer. The speed/distance trade off is the same regardless of where the DSLAM is located.
It really has nothing to do with DSLAMs being closer to the customer.. rather the type of aggregation used, that being Ethernet in the form of GigE links.
You can have a DSLAM right in front of your house but that doesn't mean it has fiber running to it, in fact most still have ATM links.