Alcatel-Lucent and nbn™ carry out successful trial of G.fast technology in Australia to extend capacity of ultra-broadband access

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Australia’s nbn™ national broadband network have successfully completed a trial of the innovative G.fast technology to identify how it can evolve its network to meet future needs for ultra-broadband access.

The state-run network is conducting a nationwide roll-out of broadband using a mix of technologies which reflect Australia’s size, geographical diversity and mix of urban centres and far-flung rural communities. The network will provide affordable ultra-broadband download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) to eight million premises and at least 50 Mbps to 90 percent of premises with fixed-line access by 2020.

The trial –conducted over the past month – demonstrated how G.fast can complement nbn’s existing multi-technology deployment toolkit, offering a range of opportunities to evolve its capabilities. Alcatel-Lucent’s G.fast technology uses copper infrastructure that extends the last few hundred meters into the premises to achieve speeds of close to 1 Gigabit per second. This enables the provision of ultra-broadband access where it might otherwise be difficult to deploy fiber-based access. G.fast eliminates the need to rewire premises, which can be a costly and time-consuming part of any fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment.

Alcatel-Lucent continues to be a key supplier for the national broadband network, including the deployment of its VDSL2 Vectoring and GPON fixed ultra-broadband technologies.

Key Facts

• nbn is using a mix of technologies to meet specific deployment needs, including a significant fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) and fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) component using VDSL Vectoring, as well as fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC), fixed, wireless and satellite technologies.
• Alcatel-Lucent’s G.fast technology uses the 7368 Intelligent Service Access Manager (ISAM) Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), 7368 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) CPE with integrated reverse power and 5520 Access Management System  to accelerate last mile fiber-to-the-home ultra-broadband connectivity.
• Alcatel-Lucent’s G.fast technology allows service providers to increase transmission speeds over traditional copper telephone lines. It forms part of the company’s fixed ultra-broadband portfolio, which allows service providers to meet the challenges of any environment with a mix of copper and fiber technologies.
• Alcatel-Lucent has 34 G.fast trials with operators, including recent trials announced with BT along with the first G.fast commercial deployment with Chunghwa Telecom.

Quotes:

Tony Cross, Chief Architect of nbn, said: “We are very excited about the potential that G.Fast offers – it has the potential to give us tremendous flexibility in delivering very fast speeds to end-users in a wide range of different environments. This is fantastic news for our end-users as G.Fast can deliver exciting new services such as symmetrical speeds which will offer new possibilities for both residential and commercial end-users. We look forward to working alongside our global peers to further develop our understanding of this great technology.”

Sean O’Halloran, President and Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent Oceania said: “Delivering better broadband to more Australians will be a key factor in preparing the nation for future innovation and growth opportunities. We share nbn’s ethos that no one technology fits all, especially for a deployment such as this one. As a leader in fixed ultra-broadband access we can offer operators a mix of fiber and copper technologies that they can use to deploy broadband more quickly and cost-effectively, while planning for the future. This trial represents a growing momentum as more service providers recognize the potential of G.fast.”