 gauge jumps to a piece of wire of another gauge, the signal is reflected, resulting in an impairment known as intersymbol interference. The use of multiple gauges is common in loop deployment strategy because it allows outside plant engineers to use lower cost small-gauge wire where appropriate, cross-connecting it to larger gauge, lower resistance wire where necessary. Weather "Weather" is perhaps a bit of a misnomer: The real issue is moisture. One of the greatest challenges facing DSL deployment is the age of the out- side plant. Much of the older distribution cable uses inadequate insula- tion between the conductors (paper in some cases). In some cases the outer sheath has cracked, allowing moisture to seep into the cable itself. The moisture causes crosstalk between wire pairs that can last until the water evaporates. Unfortunately, this can take a considerable amount of time and result in extended outages. Solutions All of these factors have solutions. The real question is whether they can be remedied at a reasonable cost. Given the growing demand for broad- band access, there seems to be little doubt that the elimination of these factors would be worthwhile at all reasonable costs, particularly consid- ering how competitive the market for the local loop customer has become. The electrical effects, largely caused by various forms of crosstalk, can be reduced or eliminated in a variety of ways. Physical cable deployment standards are already in place that, when followed, help to control the amount of near- and far-end crosstalk that can occur within binder groups in a given cable. Furthermore, filters have been designed that eliminate the background noise that can creep into a DSL circuit. Physical impairments can be controlled to a point, although to a cer- tain extend the service provider is at the mercy of their installed network plant. Obviously, older cable will present more physical impairments than newer cable, but there are steps that the service provider can take to maximize their success rate when