Alcatel-Lucent’s DSL Phantom Mode named “Broadband Innovation of the Year”
Broadband Innovation of the Year
Leveraging Bell Labs research, technology supports downstream speeds of 390 Mbps using two copper pairs, and 910 Mbps using four pairs
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is – more than ever – leading in next-generation access, as it has received the Broadband InfoVision Award in the “Broadband Innovation of the Year” category for its DSL Phantom Mode breakthrough. Building on VDSL2 Bonding, Vectoring and the analogue “phantom mode” concept, Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm Bell Labs has successfully demonstrated how this technology boosts transmission speeds attainable over traditional copper wires.
Leveraging DSL Phantom Mode, Alcatel-Lucent has shown downstream speeds of 390 Mbps over distances up to 400 meters using two copper pairs, commonly available in residential deployments. By adding more pairs, even higher speeds can be obtained (for instance, 910 Mbps at 400 meters using four pairs – which means more than 1Gbps upstream and downstream combined). The availability of more than two copper pairs is particularly relevant in business services environments, and to support mobile backhaul.
DSL Phantom Mode adds a whole new dimension to the ongoing ‘100Mbps for all’ debate, effectively bridging the gap until nationwide fiber-to-the-home deployments have been completed. It offers service providers the perspective of enabling their existing copper infrastructure – widely deployed around the world – to satisfy demand for bandwidth-intense residential triple-play and business services, for years to come.
Wim De Meyer, VP Business Transformation at Belgacom, who attended the Broadband InfoVision Award ceremony, added: “I congratulate Alcatel-Lucent with this Broadband Innovation of the Year award – a clear recognition for the innovation Alcatel-Lucent is continuing to integrate in their products. Boosting bitrates on the DSL copper plant is key to Belgacom’s strategy to deliver very high-speed broadband services to our subscribers.” Belgacom deploys Alcatel-Lucent’s IP access nodes as part of its BelgacomTV service.
Jürgen Lison, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireline activities, accepted the award on behalf of Alcatel-Lucent and said: “It is great to see the enthusiasm of our customers and the broadband market as a whole for our DSL Phantom Mode technology. Based on the results of our first deployments and customer trials, we are convinced of the real-life performance improvements that technologies such VDSL2 Bonding, Vectoring and potentially Phantom Mode will bring to VDSL-based broadband networks around the world.”
Alcatel-Lucent is the worldwide leader in fixed broadband access. Actually, today, one out of three fixed broadband subscribers around the world is served through an access network provided by Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs – featuring projects with customers such as AT&T, Belgacom, Swisscom, Telekom Austria and Turk Telecom. Our VDSL2 solution has also been deployed by competitive operators, including M-net (Germany) and South Yorkshire Digital Region (UK).
