Nokia and nbn hit 8 Gbps over copper in XG-FAST lab trial

Nokia and nbn hit 8 Gbps over copper in XG-FAST lab trial
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Nokia and Australia’s nbn say they have successfully completed a trial of XG-FAST – a Nokia Bell Labs-developed extension of Nokia’s commercially available G.fast technology – that achieved throughput speeds of 8 Gbps in the lab.

The XG-FAST trial conducted in nbn’s North Sydney-based lab facilities generated peak aggregate data throughput speeds of more than 8 Gbps over a 30-meter twisted-pair copper cable typically deployed in field. A 5-Gbps peak aggregate speed was achieved over 70 meters of twisted-pair copper cable.

XG-FAST enables service providers to generate fiber-like speeds of more than 10 Gbps over short distances using existing copper infrastructure. With a significant proportion of nbn’s nationwide broadband network rollout being completed using existing copper networks, XG-FAST is being tested as a potential asset for future upgrades.

“Although XG-FAST is still in its very early stages of development, the lab trials we have conducted demonstrate the huge potential that the technology offers,” said Dennis Steiger, CTO at nbn. “XG-FAST gives us the ability to deliver multi-gigabit speeds over copper lines – virtually on a par with what is currently available on fiber-to-the-premises – but at a lower cost and time to deploy. We are really thrilled to be the third operator in the global market to run lab trials of XG-FAST, following in the footsteps of BT last year and Deutsche Telekom in February.”

Federico Guillen, president of Nokia’s Fixed Networks business group, said, “nbn’s flexible approach to network architecture makes it perfectly suited to future upgrades based on emerging technologies like XG-FAST, which is designed to provide high-quality, multi-gigabit broadband over short cable distances. We are committed to further developing the technology to eventually support 2 Gbps or more at 100 meters, enabling longer distances to effectively cover buildings and clusters of homes without the need to rewire. Nokia will continue to work with nbn to ensure they see the latest developments and technology innovation to evolve their network and deliver ultra-broadband to more people sooner.”

Nokia says it has over 42 G.fast customer trials and deployments worldwide including commercial deployments with BT Openreach, Chunghwa Telecom, Telekom Austria and Energia.

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