From The Online Reporter - the No. 1 source for strategic intelligence about broadband and home networks
In Addition to All Fiber Networks
Just as the telcos seemed about to let their copper wire networks drag them to the bottom in broadband performance, new copper wire technologies have
emerged. It’s no wonder that telcos such as Verizon have ended their efforts to build all fiber networks.
The Miracles
Occurring in
Twisted Pair Copper Wire Technology
Twisted Pair Copper Wire Technology
The technology for carrying audio to and from phones over a twisted pair of copper wires was invented back in the 1880s, over 130 years ago. Most homes in first- and second-world countries have at least one pair connecting them to telephone networks, far more than cablecos can ever hope to connect. However, as recently as ten years ago, broadband speeds over those wires were, at best, 1 Mbps and much less than that, if at all, in sparsely settled areas.
| Technology | Speeds Up to |
| VDSL2 | 40 to 50 Mbps |
| VDSL2 Vectoring | 100 Mbps |
| Reverse powered FTTdp | 100 Mbps |
| DSL Rings | 400 Mbps |
| G.Fast | 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps |
Telcos, their suppliers, chipmakers and software services have sped that up to 40-50 Mbps in many areas with technology called VDSL2. They are now launching affordable copper wire broadband technology called VDSL2 Vectoring that will provide speeds in the 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps range, which will be available in months. They are well underway in developing a technology called G.Fast that is purported to have 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps over those same existing pair of twisted copper wires.
This photograph shows 600 pairs of twisted copper wires. Each pair will soon be capable of broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps for up to 600 residences.
The only changes to the telcos’ network has been to bring fiber closer to the home where it terminates in a distribution point (cabinet), new gear in the cabinet and a new modem in the home — but those wires are the same ones from the 1880s.
A few years ago it looked as if the telcos would have to build all fiber networks to the home in order to a) compete with the cablecos, b) satisfy politicians and regulators for higher and higher speeds and c) fulfill consumers’ increasing demand for video streams to TVs, tablets and smartphones. Now they seem to have or will have several choices in using their existing fiber/copper networks with no new wires to install:
Cablecos are offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps over their existing networks by changing the network gear in the distribution office and installing a new modem in the subscriber’s home. They and their suppliers are confident that in time they can offer speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
Alcatel-Lucent, a main pusher of VDSL2 Vectoring, has knocked down a major cost barrier to its deployment with technology called Zero Touch that eliminates the need to upgrade every modem on the network.
Chipmaker Lantiq and telecom gear maker Aethra Telecommunications have developed broadband technology that will allow telcos to offer speeds of up to 250 Mbps over 200 meter (yards) long twisted-pair copper.
A Canadian startup called Genesis Technical Systems is about to unveil a copper wire technology called DSL Rings that can support up to 400 Mbps over existing telcos’ networks.
The telcos and their vendors are jointly developing an ITU technology standard called G.Fast whose goal is to provide speeds of up to 1 Gbps over existing copper wire as long as the distribution point (where the fiber is) is within 200 yards of the residence.
Please don’t ask why anyone needs those speeds like that telco executive who asked a short 10 years ago, “Why would anyone need 1 Mbps at home?” There’s a long list of applications that might need the higher speeds — although 1 Gbps seems excessive. We do know this: without secure and high-speed broadband and home networking, there is no OTT industry or vibrant Internet.
Alca-Lu Technology Makes Deploying VDSL2 Vectoring Less Expensive
- “Zero Touch Vectoring” Eliminates Need to Upgrade Every Modem
- Governments, Cablecos, Consumers Pushing Telcos for Higher Speeds
The year-or-so old VDSL2 Vectoring technology provides the telcos the best near-term solution for increasing broadband speeds up to 100 Mbps without having to build all-fiber networks. However, the biggest barrier to widespread deployment of VDSL2 Vectoring has been that it required telcos to replace every modem in existing subscribers’ homes.
Network gear maker Alcatel-Lucent has developed what it calls “a major new innovation” for VDSL2 Vectoring called “Zero Touch Vectoring” that eliminates the need to update the firmware on every DSL modem in the VDSL2 network. That will save the telcos substantial dollars and reduce the time and complexity of providing VDSL2 Vectoring speeds that are up to 100 Mbps on existing networks.
Alca-Lu said sophisticated signal processing is used to ensure that existing VDSL2 modems can continue to run at full speed without reducing the service quality for subscribers that have the higher-speed VDSL2 Vectoring modems.
The telcos are faced with two challenges in their broadband efforts:
- Government regulators and politicians want every home to have access to ultra-high broadband, generally defined as speeds in the 40 to 100 Mbps range.
- Cable TV operators are the ones pushing broadband speeds with DOCSIS 3.0 technology that allows them rather inexpensively and easily to offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and higher speeds are expected for DOCSIS 3.0 in 2013. To upgrade to the higher speeds, the cablecos need only upgrade the gear in the central office and the subscriber’s modem, for which some of them have begun charging extra.
Until VDSL2 Vectoring became available, the telcos’ only alternative was to build fiber networks all the way to the home, a complex and costly venture. Telcos, like the cablecos, have to run fiber to near the home to used VDSL2 Vectoring, which removes interference between copper wires from the fiber to the home, which allows them to offer fiber-like 100 Mbps speeds without a full fiber deployment.
Alca-Lu launched VDSL2 Vectoring commercially in September 2011, but deployment on a wide scale was limited by the need to replace every modem on the network, which it says “Zero Touch Vectoring” now solves.
It has also enhanced its VDSL2 Vectoring technology with the ability to support up to 384 copper lines in high-density areas and has developed troubleshooting technology called Motive Network Analyzer to maximize network performance.
Dave Geary, chief of Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireline activities, said, “Trials with leading service providers have shown that VDSL2 Vectoring can effectively deliver the kinds of speeds it promised, and we are now starting to engage in mass-market deployments. With our Zero-Touch Vectoring and other innovations we are eliminating the final barriers that service providers around the world have faced — enabling them to deliver higher bandwidths to more subscribers, now.”
The key word is “now” because governments and competition from cablecos are pushing telcos to increase their broadband performance. So are consumers with their seemingly insatiable demand for OTT streaming.
To see 4 free editions of The Online Reporter, the weekly source for competitive intelligence about internet-delivered content services and broadband networks, visit www.onlinereporter.com/trial_copies.php
