An industry group composed of major European telcos and vendors has launched a project to develop high-speed copper backhaul solutions based on G.fast.
Celtic-Plus’ Gigabits Over the Legacy Drop (GOLD) project aims to push the maximum throughput of G.fast, which can deliver 1 Gbps on copper loops of 100 metres or less, by using higher frequencies to carry more data. The work builds on Celtic-Plus’ Hybrid Fibre-Copper Connectivity using G.Fast (HFCC/G.Fast) project, which helped towards the standardisation of G.fast.
The GOLD project, which boasts 12 members including BT, Orange, Ericsson, Adtran and Sckipio, among others, said their work will concentrate on proving G.fast can be used as a cost-effective alternative to fibre-based backhaul in city centres.
"G.fast is quickly turning into a key technology for European operators," said Trevor Linney, head of access network research at BT, in a statement on Monday.
"During our lab evaluations, it has outperformed our expectations in terms of bitrate and reach for fixed-line subscribers. Now we have formed the GOLD project to drive further improvements in the capabilities of this exciting technology, working closely with vendors and other global operators," he said.
The three-year project is due to be completed by December 2017 at a cost of €4.4 million.
GOLD project participants: BT, Orange, Adtran, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Sagemcom, Telnet Redes Inteligentes, Marvell Semiconductors, Sckipio Technologies, and researchers at Lund University and TNO.
Total Telecom is hosting its Gigabit Copper conference in Munich on Wednesday. For more information, head to www.totaltele.com/copper
