-- 12 customer trials - including those with A1 Telekom
Austria and BT - demonstrate ability of G.fast to provide broadband
services offering data speeds of up to 1 Gbps
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadband World
Forum 2014 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is
launching a new ultra-broadband G.fast solution – to become
available in the first quarter of 2015 – that will extend the
company's comprehensive portfolio of very high-bandwidth fixed and
wireless access technologies.
The new solution will allow operators to place fiber access
closer to subscribers' homes, providing them with even faster
Internet services as demand continues to grow, driven by the
explosion in data and video.
The commercial launch follows 12 trials with operators,
including A1, a subsidiary of Telekom Austria, in which a regular
subscriber was connected in order to independently test G.fast in
the field. This trial comes a year after Alcatel-Lucent and A1
conducted the first laboratory trial of G.fast with vectoring where
they achieved speeds of 1.1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps).
Other trials have included BT and Orange. Eight more operator
trials have been confirmed before the end of the year.
Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of A1 and Telekom Austria Group said:
"We want to provide our customers with the best possible
ultra-broadband speeds at home. We were the first to trial G.fast
using vectoring technology with Alcatel-Lucent a little over a year
ago and we are pleased to take the lead with them again by
demonstrating the first customer connection using G.fast."
Teresa Mastrangelo, founder of
analyst firm Broadbandtrends, said: "In order to meet their
customers' demands and regulatory objectives for high-speed
broadband services, operators are increasingly turning to
fiber-to-the-distribution point technologies. With its ability to
provide fiber-like speeds without the time, cost and disruption
associated with full fiber-to-the-home deployments, G.fast will
have a significant role to play in operators' ultra-broadband
strategies."
Federico Guillen, President of
Alcatel-Lucent's Fixed Networks business said: "Quite simply,
G.fast moves the goalposts thanks to its ability to provide
fiber-like broadband speeds. The debate is no longer about copper
versus fiber, as both technologies can provide what customers want.
This means operators can expand their fiber footprints in the most
efficient way, choosing between copper or fiber technologies for
the final connection, to ensure no customer is left behind when it
comes to getting ultra-broadband services."
About the solution
The new 7368 ISAM single-port
G.fast Optical Network Terminal (ONT) accelerates the availability
of fiber-like speeds without the need for operators to bring fiber
all the way into the premises – the most costly and time consuming
part of any fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment. Instead, fiber can
be drawn close to the home and G.fast used to deliver speeds of up
to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) over the existing telephone line
into the premises. Alcatel-Lucent's G.fast ONT can also be
deployed in a multiple-dwelling unit, with one ONT serving each
household.
Customer trials use a multi-port G.fast solution using vectoring
technology to eliminate the cross-talk interference that occurs
when two or more copper lines are in close proximity, which
adversely affects speeds. The multi-port G.fast solution will drive
the evolution of Alcatel-Lucent's VDSL2 micro-node portfolio.
Copper technologies like G.fast are crucial for enabling service
providers to expand their fiber footprint and bring ultra-broadband
services to as many customers as possible, as quickly as possible.
Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs recently
demonstrated the real-world possibility for XG-FAST technology –
which extends the possibilities of copper even further. Laboratory
trials saw symmetrical speeds of 1 gigabit per second over 70
meters of copper.
Additional Resources
- Internet page: G.fast: Clear a new path to ultra-broadband
- Infographic: History of the copper telephone line
- White Paper: The business case for VDSL2 vectoring, 30MHz
vectoring and G.fast
- Telekom Austria press release: First Ultra-Broadband Customer
in the World with G.fast
About Telekom Austria Group
Telekom Austria Group,
listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since November 2000, is the leading communications
provider in Central and Eastern
Europe with roughly 23 million customers across its markets
of operations. The Group is currently operating in eight countries:
Austria (A1), Bulgaria (Mobiltel), Belarus (velcom), Croatia (Vipnet), Slovenia (Si.mobil), the Republic of Serbia
(Vip mobile) and the Republic of Macedonia (Vip operator), and Liechtenstein (Telecom liechtenstein). The
total market of the eight countries covers approximately 41 million
inhabitants. The Group has more than 16,000 employees as of
June 30, 2014, Group revenues were
roughly EUR 4.2 billion as of
year-end 2013. Telekom Austria Group's portfolio encompasses
products and services of voice telephony, broadband Internet,
multimedia services, data and IT solutions, wholesale as well as
m-payment solutions.
For further information please visit our Website at
http://www.telekomaustria.com/en/home or follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/TA_Group
ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS AND NYSE: ALU)
We are at the
forefront of global communications, providing products and
innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as ultra-broadband
fixed and wireless access to service providers and their customers,
and to enterprises and institutions throughout the world.
Underpinning us in driving the industrial transformation from voice
telephony to high-speed digital delivery of data, video and
information is Bell Labs, an
integral part of the Group and one of the world's foremost
technology research institutes, responsible for countless
breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications
industry. Our innovations have resulted in our Group being
recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Top 100 Global Innovator, as
well as being named by MIT Technology Review as amongst 2012's Top
50 "World's Most Innovative Companies". We have also been
recognized for innovation in sustainability, being named Industry
Group Leader in the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in
the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review, for making global
communications more sustainable, affordable and accessible, all in
pursuit of the Group's mission to realize the potential of a
connected world.
With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion
in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New
York stock exchanges (Euronext and NYSE: ALU). The company
is incorporated in France and
headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the
Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow
the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.