2000 homes around Gosforth in Newcastle to have access to superior broadband
speeds and new services made possible by G.fast technology
PARIS, Oct. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent
(Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and BT are today to commence an
extensive consumer trial of the ultra-broadband access G.fast
technology in Gosforth in the north-east of England.
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G.fast – in which BT, Alcatel-Lucent and its Bell Labs research arm have played a pioneering
development role - allows service providers to provide
ultra-broadband Internet speeds in locations where deploying
fiber-optic connectivity is difficult. It also eliminates the need
to rewire entire buildings and homes, the most costly and
time-consuming part of any fiber deployment. During the trial,
G.fast will enable data speeds of up to 330 Mbps, delivered over
copper infrastructure directly into premises.
Alcatel-Lucent's G.fast technology has already been in trials
with more than 30 operators worldwide. The BT trial will cover up
to 2000 homes in Gosforth, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and will last for six to
nine months. It follows a much smaller but very successful pilot
conducted by BT and Alcatel-Lucent around Hethersett in
Norfolk, earlier this year.
In preparation for this trial, Alcatel-Lucent has been able to
demonstrate to BT, Alcatel-Lucent's expertise in advanced access
technology including bonded VDSL2, VDSL2 vectoring, per port
selectable VDSL2 or G.fast service activation, system level G.fast
vectoring and active participation in the ITU standards in order to
meet the precise needs of BT.
During the trial, customers will experience much faster
broadband speeds and can benefit from improved performance on
existing services and will be able to access new services such as
multiple simultaneous 4K TV channels, fast HD video downloads and
streaming.
Mike Galvin, MD Service, Strategy
and Operations, BT said: "This is the largest trial of G.fast
technology in the world today and extensive research by teams of
experts at both BT and Alcatel- Lucent have prepared us well for
this exploration into how the technology performs. With G.fast, we
look forward to opening a new chapter in building Britain's connected future through the
delivery of ultra fast broadband to more people in the coming
years."
Cormac Whelan, CEO of
Alcatel-Lucent UK & Ireland
said; "The latest analyst predictions say that within five years,
something like one million minutes of video content will cross the
global fixed or mobile network every single second. The demand for
broadband has never been greater and is only heading in one
direction so this G.fast trial is the right technology at the right
time."
About BT
BT's purpose is to use the power of
communications to make a better world. It is one of the world's
leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving
customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities
include the provision of networked IT services globally; local,
national and international telecommunications services to its
customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV
and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile
products and services. BT consists principally of five
customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business,
BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2015,
BT Group's reported revenue was £17,979m with reported profit
before taxation of £2,645m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets
of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in
London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)
Alcatel-Lucent is the leading IP networking, ultra-broadband access
and cloud technology specialist. We are dedicated to making global
communications more innovative, sustainable and accessible for
people, businesses and governments worldwide. Our mission is to
invent and deliver trusted networks to help our customers unleash
their value. Every success has its network.
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.