BT has achieved broadband speeds of more than 5.6Gbps over existing copper lines in early experimental lab trials of XG.fast technology conducted in partnership with Alcatel Lucent. The new G.fast technology, XG.fast delivered aggregate speeds of 5.6Gbps over 35 metres of BT cable, a record for full-duplex data transmission over a standard single BT line. According to BT, the technology also performed well over longer distances, with aggregate speeds of 1.8Gbps over 100 metres; a significant result, as most UK homes are within this distance of their local distribution point, be that a pole or footway box.
XG.FAST, a potential future development of the technology, is in the early stages of lab testing, but has exceeded expectations in trials at Adastral Park, BT’s global research and development campus in Suffolk, and Alcatel-Lucent’s labs in Antwerp.
At the same time, the G.fast technology is at the heart of plans for Openreach, BT’s local access network business, to deliver ultrafast speeds to 10 million premises by the end of 2020, and to most of the UK by the end of 2025.
Mike Galvin, Managing Director of Next Generation Access for BT’s Technology Service & Operations division
These are exciting results. We know that G.fast will transform the UK’s broadband landscape but these results also give us confidence the technology has significant headroom should we need it in the future.
