Alcatel-Lucent and Telekom Austria Group subsidiary A1 claim to have broken the 1 Gbps broadband speed barrier using G. fast technology developed by Bell Lab over an existing copper network. The demonstration saw 1.1Gbps transmitted over 70 m of outside plant copper cabling.
If proven out in the real world, the ultra-high-speed capabilities would boost the prospects of building competitive triple play high-speed data, IPTV and voice services over existing copper-based telecom facilities.
The trial included transmission over copper of varying quality. Over a single, good quality cable, the technicians achieved 1.1 Gbps over 70 m and 800 Mbps over 100 m. On older unshielded cable, the G. fast technology supported 500 Mbps over 100 m on a single line and 60 Mbps over two lines where crosstalk ensured. When vectoring was added, signal support increased to the G. fast specification of 500 Mbps over 100m.
“Telekom Austria Group´S A1 was an early adopter of Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 vectoring because we understand the value of upgrading our existing copper infrastructure to give our customers the best possible broadband service,” said Hans Pichler, Chief technology officer at Telekom Austria Group. “We are pleased to be working with Alcatel-Lucent at the cutting-edge of fixed broadband technology to look at the possibilities of G.fast vectoring.”
The ITU-T is expected to ratify G.fast specifications by the end of this year or early in 2014. In a press release, Alcatel-Lucent estimates that G.fast technology “won’t be commercially available for several years.” However, sources at the company and elsewhere suggest that G.fast technology could appear as early as the middle or end of next year.
Published by FiberStore, industry news – www.fs.com