Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, announced that it has set a new world broadband speed record over traditional copper telephone lines: 10 Gbps symmetrical.
Bell Labs achieved the 10 Gbps speed with a prototype technology known as XG-FAST, which utilizes an increased frequency range up to 500 MHz to obtain faster speeds than prior technologies but over shorter distances.
In tests, Bell Labs was able to achieve speeds of 1 Gbps over 70 meters on a single copper pair, and 10 Gbps over 30 meters by using two pairs of copper lines.
“Our constant aim is to push the limits of what is possible to ‘invent the future,’” said Bell Labs president Marcus Weldon. “Our demonstration of 10 Gbps over copper is a prime example: by pushing broadband technology to its limits, operators can determine how they could deliver gigabit services over their existing networks, ensuring the availability of ultra-broadband access as widely and as economically as possible.”
“Achieving 1 Gbps ‘symmetrical’ services…will enable operators to provide Internet connection speeds that are indistinguishable from fiber-to-the-home services, a major business benefit where it is not physically, economically or aesthetically viable to lay new fiber cables all the way into residences,” Bell Labs stated in a press release. “Instead, fiber can be brought to the curbside, wall or basement of a building and the existing copper network used for the final few meters.”
