Bristol, Tennessee goes super high speed with 1 gigabit broadband network
BTES customers have the ability to download as much data as 200 songs in just six seconds
Bristol, Tennesse/Paris, France – November 19, 2012 – Bristol Tennessee Essential Services (BTES) and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) have today announced the availability of 1 Gigabit broadband service to all 33,000 residential and business electric customers of BTES.
Powered by Alcatel-Lucent’s gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology, Bristol’s network will accommodate speeds of up to one gigabit-per-second (Gbps), which is ten times faster than the US Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan calling for 100 Mbps speeds for 100 million households nationwide by 2020.
“Bristol now has one of the fastest, totally built out networks in the United States. To give an example of how fast, you can download about two hours of video or upwards of 200 songs in just six seconds,” said Dr. Michael Browder, CEO of BTES. “For our residential customers, that means one person in the household can download a movie, while another is playing an online game, while another is watching an HDTV program – all without slowing down any of the activities. For our business customers, it opens the way for transporting and accessing ‘big data’, which is critical for economic development of the area.”
One gigabit service also has tremendous benefits for education, from elementary through university levels. For example, an elementary school located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is combining SMART Board Technology and BTES’ gigabit service to offer virtual field trips to learn about other parts of the world. Recently, a class of 20 eight-year-olds ‘travelled’ to Egypt to learn about the pyramids assisted by their own on-site tour guide.
“Alcatel-Lucent and BTES have a long-standing relationship, and are committed to putting the Bristol community at the forefront of high-speed, high-tech communications for consumers, schools and businesses alike,” said Robert Vrij, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Americas region and head of Global Strategic Alliances. “Our long-time collaboration to bring this network to Bristol speaks volumes about the confidence they have in our technology, our expertise, our global leadership and our ability to help create one of the world’s most advanced high-speed broadband access networks.”
About BTES’ 1 Gigabit network
Using Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON-enabled 7342 ISAM FTTU optical line terminals (OLTs) and optical network terminals (ONTs), BTES is able to provide voice, video and data services up to one gigabit per second. BTES’ OLTs connect to a 10 gigabit backbone via Alcatel-Lucent’s 7450 ESS switches and are aggregated through a pair of 7750 BSR routers to 10 gigabits of Internet capacity. BTES’ ONTs are capable of providing advanced IPTV video services along with traditional cable television, telephone and up to one gigabit per second of Internet bandwidth.
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)
The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and services. The company is home to Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost research centers, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry. Alcatel-Lucent was named one of MIT Technology Review’s 2012 Top 50 list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” for breakthroughs such as lightRadio™, which cuts power consumption and operating costs on wireless networks while delivering lightning fast Internet access. Through such innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission – Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.
With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 15.3 billion in 2011 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.
