The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced initial approval for a new broadband standard capable of achieving data transmission speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s over existing copper telephone lines.
G.Fast (full name ITU-T G.9701) is expected to be a cheaper, easier-to-deploy alternative to FTTX configurations for delivering fiber-like transmission speeds to telecommunications customers. Because the range of G.Fast will be kept short—approximately 250 meters—in order to prevent cross-talk, line noise, attenuation and other problems associated with the use of high frequencies, the technology will be used only in lines that connect the network to individual customers, a section often known as the “last mile.”
“G.fast is intended for typical applications of 500 megabits per second (Mbps) speeds at 100 meters or less,” Alcatel-Lucent said following a trial of the new technology completed in cooperation with Telekom Austria Group earlier this year. “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.”
While some analysts consider the transmission speeds achieved in the trial to be higher than what is possible for an average household, data speeds are still expected to receive a significant boost with the new technology because of the unique advantage it offers.
“[G.Fast] allows operators to offer symmetrical speeds – so with 1 Gbp/s of bandwidth an operator could offer 500 Mbp/s downstream and upstream– something other copper acceleration technologies cannot do,” according to Informa Telecoms & Media analyst Tony Brown.
The G.Fast standard is expected to be finalized sometime in 2014. The ITU is currently working on a specification for G.fast equipment (ITU-T G.9700) to prevent interference.
