Alcatel-Lucent and Telekom Austria Group complete world’s first trial of new technology enabling ultra-fast broadband over existing copper networks

A1, Austrian subsidiary of Telekom Austria Group, test Bell Labs G.fast vectoring technology, delivering speeds faster than 1 Gbps and demonstrating potential for copper in next-generation broadband access

PARIS, July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and A1, the Austrian subsidiary of Telekom Austria Group, have conducted the world’s first trial of an innovation from Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs that can upgrade existing copper telecommunications networks into ultra-fast broadband access systems capable of delivering video, data and information at speeds of more than 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).

With Alcatel-Lucent repositioning itself as a specialist in IP Networking and Ultra-broadband access, the company has adapted Bell Labs vectoring techniques – already in widespread commercial deployment in VDSL2 networks – to work with a new transmission technology called G.fast, which use a wide frequency band to achieve very high speeds on copper lines over very short distances.

G.fast is intended for typical applications of 500 megabits per second (Mbps) speeds at 100 meters or less. In recent demonstrations and under laboratory conditions, Alcatel-Lucent achieved 1.3 Gbps over 70 meters, making G.fast a promising option for service providers to complement their fiber deployments.

In any fiber-to-the-home project, a substantial part of the cost-per-subscriber is in the last few meters between the nearest network cabinet and the home. These costs can be avoided by using G.fast over the existing copper telephone line, rather than having to dig up roads or private property to install new fiber.

Bell Labs vectoring technology addresses one of the challenges related to the deployment of G.fast. In many real-world applications, such as fiber-to-the-building, the copper lines serving neighboring homes are packed closely together: this results in crosstalk interference between lines, which significantly reduces the potential speed of data transmission. G.fast vectoring removes this crosstalk, stabilizes the transmission quality and enables the technology to perform to its full potential.

Key Facts

• The trial, conducted with A1 and using a Bell Labs prototype, first tested G.fast over a single, good quality cable, achieving a maximum speed of 1.1 Gbps over 70 meters and 800 Mbps over 100 meters.
• On older unshielded cables, typical of most in-building cabling in Austria, the trial achieved speeds of 500 Mbps over 100 meters on a single line. However, when a second line was introduced, creating crosstalk between the two, the G.fast speed fell to only 60 Mbps.
• Vectoring was then enabled, removing the crosstalk and bringing the speed back up to 500 Mbps over 100m. This is a huge improvement over widely deployed DSL networks, which typically offer speeds of 5-30 Mbps, or VDSL2 vectoring networks supporting up to 100 Mbps. Fiber-to-the-home services typically range from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
• G.fast, which is not yet standardized, won’t be commercially available for several years. However, it is a natural evolution of VDSL2 that, with the help of vectoring technology, could allow service providers to more quickly and cost-effectively provide subscribers with broadband speeds from several hundreds of Mbps up to more than 1 Gbps over short distances.

Quotes

Hans Pichler, Chief Technology officer at Telekom Austria Group, said: “Telekom Austria Group´s A1 was an early adopter of Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 vectoring because we understand the value of upgrading our existing copper infrastructure to give our customers the best possible broadband service. We are pleased to be working with Alcatel-Lucent at the cutting-edge of fixed broadband technology to look at the possibilities of G.fast vectoring.”

Federico Guillen, Leader, Business Line Fixed Access, said: “As a leader in fixed broadband and a pioneer of vectoring – being the first vendor to ship 1 million VDSL2 vectoring lines – Alcatel-Lucent is ideally placed to help Telekom Austria understand the potential of G.fast and vectoring. G.fast underlines the specialist expertise Alcatel-Lucent brings to customers like Telekom Austria as they expand their footprint of ultra-broadband access coverage. While this is only a trial, the impressive results show the enormous potential of G.fast for service providers around the world.”

About Telekom Austria Group

Telekom Austria Group, listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since November 2000, is the leadingcommunications provider in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 24 million customers across its markets of operations. The Group is currently operating in eight countries: Austria (A1), Slovenia (Si.mobil), Croatia (Vipnet), the Republic of Serbia (Vip mobile) and the Republic of Macedonia (Vip operator), Bulgaria (Mobiltel), Belarus (velcom) and Liechtenstein (mobilkom liechtenstein). The total market of the eight countries covers approximately 41 million inhabitants. The Group has roughly 16,500 employees as of March 31, 2013, Group revenues were EUR 4.33 billion as of year-end 2012. 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 go to http://www.telekomaustria.com or follow us on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/TA_Group

Telekom Austria Media Contact
Alexander Kleedorfer, Head of External Communications, Telekom Austria Group
Mobile: +43 664 6639183
Email: alexander.kleedorfer@telekomaustria.com

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 innovations are regularly recognized by international institutions for their positive impact on society. In 2012 and for the second year running, Alcatel-Lucent was named one of the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators, recognition for the company’s continued addition to its world-class patent portfolio, one of the largest in the telecom industry. Alcatel-Lucent has also been recognized for its sustainability performance. In 2012 the company was ranked Technology Supersector Leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Through its innovations, Alcatel-Lucent is making communications more sustainable, more affordable and more accessible as we pursue our mission of Realizing the Potential of a Connected World.

With operations throughout the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 14.4 billion in 2012 and 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.

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