Alcatel-Lucent Achieves a Milestone through 10Gbps Broadband Speed over Copper Line

By CIOReview | Friday, July 11, 2014

FREMONT, CA: Alcatel-Lucent, an innovative communication solutions provider, achieves a new broadband speed record of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) on traditional copper telephone lines. The other test realizes 1Gbps ‘symmetrical’ ultra-broadband access services on existing copper communication lines. These tests were conducted by Bell Labs, the research subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent.

10Gbps speed for data communication over copper lines was achieved over a distance of 30 meters by ‘bonding’ technique that uses two pairs of copper lines. On the other hand, 1Gbps speed was achieved over a distance of 70 meters on a single copper pair.

A prototype technology called XG-FAST was used by the Bell Labs for testing the connectivity speed. XG-FAST is an extension of G.fast technology which is essentially a new broadband standard currently being finalized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

G.fast would operate in a frequency range of 106 MHz for data transmission while XG-FAST would operate in the frequency range up to 500 MHz. G.fast would be able to provide 500 Mbps speed over a distance of 100 meters. On the contrary, XG-FAST would be able to yield greater speeds but over shorter distances.

With 1Gbps symmetrical speed, the user can now enjoy 1Gbps download and upload speed simultaneously. Having this gigantic connectivity speed on a copper line is a dream come true for the user and a milestone achieved for the communication services provider. This breakthrough should definitely cheer up major sections of the society who find fiber connectivity as uneconomical.

In the real world, factors such quality and thickness of the copper cable as well as the cross-talk between adjacent cables can affect the maintaining of high speed achieved in the lab environment.