ZTE and German regional network operator NetCologne, which in mid-February formed a partnership for the roll-out of GPON and G.fast technology, have now announce the launch of the G.fast pilot phase.
Jointly developed by ZTE and NetCologne, the new G.fast technology that will be deployed is designed to support transmission speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s, with such speeds verified in the lab. The companies are currently implementing the first live connections in real-world conditions in the pilot phase of the project. NetCologne stated that G.fast technology will be made available on its network during 2017, with a target of serving around 260,000 households.
The deployment of G.fast technology is intended to enable NetCologne to cost-effectively connect buildings utilising the existing copper cabling infrastructure to its fibre network and deliver bandwidth of up to 1 Gbit/s to customers. ZTE noted that the project is specifically employing its combined GPON/G.fast offering, which includes its latest 2U-high DSLAM products and G.fast gateways.
NetCologne, a subsidiary of utility company GEW Köln, is a regional network operator in Germany serving the greater Cologne-Bonn area. Under the agreement with ZTE announced in February, the companies stated they would jointly develop projects involving GPON and G.fast technology. Specifically, ZTE was to support NetCologne as it expanded and enhanced its service offering, initially via transitioning the existing VDSL-FTTB network toward GPON using G.fast technology.
ZTE noted at that time that GPON would serve as an uplink technology, with G.fast used to expand the existing FTTB infrastructure and integrate into NetCologne’s network infrastructure that includes around 23,500 km of fibre.
NetCologne stated that in June 2016 it selected ARRIS International’s Touchstone TG2492 gateway to enable gigabit broadband and enhance wireless broadband coverage for its subscribers in the Cologne area. Following development work it has developed a new type of DSLAM designed to meet the requirements of G.fast that will be installed as an interconnection point in building basements.
NetCologne noted that as the new DSLAM utilises a larger frequency spectrum than the existing FTTB DSLAMs, it enables the transfer rate to be increased in the future, by the current 100 Mbit/s to up to 1 Gbit/s.
During the ongoing pilot phase with ZTE, speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s will be tested over connections with different customer terminals. It was noted that the frequency spectrum from 2.2 MHz up is currently used for data transmission, leaving out the ADSL transmission range, while testing with the first ZTE G.fast chip generation currently utilises the frequency band up to 106 MHz. Using the new chip generation that is in development, the frequency spectrum can be doubled and increased to 212 MHz.
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