A1 Telecom, Austria’s biggest ISP and Telekom Austria Group's domestic subsidiary in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent, this week announced that the company has successfully demonstrated data rates up to 'several' 100 Mbit/s per household via existing copper lines with G.fast (ITU G.9700/1) technology. The new access network modulation technique used in the demonstration will come in handy to support the trend towards higher data rates required to deliver high-resolution TV, video-on-demand and other complex Internet services, without the need to upgrade on-premise copper cabling.
Currently, G.fast is still in a testing phase and the launch of commercial operations is expected in 2016.
- According to a statement by A1, the new technology enables rapid roll-out of ultra-fast broadband services especially in urban areas that are characterized by pre-existing multi-storey buildings with copper lines that are less than 250m. Although new buildings are being equipped with future-proof fiber optic cables, in Vienna alone, there are tens of thousands of old buildings, where customer premises wiring would only make sense within the framework a more comprehensive renovation, said A1.
We're proud to have succeeded in connecting the first customer in the world to our domestic A1 network with G.fast. This technology will enable us to offer urban areas data rates ten, even up to twenty, times higher than ever before. Fiber to the home remains our long term vision, but we consider G.fast as an intelligent interim solution until fiber will have a similar coverage as we have with copper now. With G.fast, fiber is deployed all the way to the basement of a building, with the final connection to the single living spaces being made with existing copper lines. This allows for a considerable reduction of expenses, as no costly rewiring at the customer premises is required.
- Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Telekom Austria Group and A1
As a leader in IP networking and ultra-broadband access solutions, Alcatel-Lucent is committed to bringing innovations to market that help operators provide better services and better connectivity to their customers. We are delighted to continue our strong relationship with Telekom Austria by trialing G.fast, a technology that promises to dramatically accelerate the worldwide availability of ultra-broadband solutions .
- Federico Guillén, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Fixed Networks business
