Final answer:
ADSL is a technology used to transmit digital data over telephone lines, providing faster internet and allowing simultaneous voice and data services. It was crucial for early internet growth but also highlighted the digital divide due to uneven infrastructure upgrades.
Step-by-step explanation:
An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ADSL differs from the less common symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL). In ADSL, the data downstream rate (from the internet to the user's computer) is higher than the upstream rate (from the user's computer to the internet). This is ideal for typical internet usage, where the majority of data traffic is consumed in the form of downloading content such as websites, videos, music, and more. It uses separate frequency channels for voice (telephone service) and data (internet service), allowing both services to operate simultaneously without interfering with each other.
ADSL was a step forward from early internet access solutions like dial-up connections, which used standard phone lines and were much slower. It contributed to the earlier days of the internet's growth by enabling faster connection speeds for residential and business users, effectively laying the groundwork for a host of spin-off technologies, including free Internet-based calls and video calling. However, ADSL's deployment sometimes highlighted the issue of the digital divide, as the required infrastructure upgrades were not evenly distributed, favoring affluent urban and suburban areas.