Russia's Rostelecom picks ZTE for Access Network Upgrade Project

ZTE clinched a 70% share of the first stage of  Rostelecom's the access network modernization project.

ZTE's Multi-Service Access Network (MSAN) product delivers VDSL. Rostelcom is currently testing G.vectoring and G.fast for deployment in a second stage of its upgrade project.

ZTE noted that its access products are equipped with lithium batteries to endure the harsh outdoor environments in Rostelcom's territory, including extreme low-temperature. Its customized outdoor cabinets are cold-resistant, water-proof, moisture-resistant and dust-proof.

Rostelecom is Russia's leading broadband and pay-TV provider with over 12.7 million fixed-line broadband subscribers and over 9.7 million pay-TV subscribers, over 4.7 million of which are subscribed to its IPTV service.

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Qualcomm Samples G.fast Chipsets for Korea and Japan

Qualcomm has begun sampling new GigaDSL chipsets to help broadband operators to transition deployments from VDSL to Gigabit access technologies, especially in Korea and Japan.

The company said its new QCO5700 for multiple dwelling units (MDU) and the QCM5720 for customer premises equipment (CPE) can provide up to 1 Gbps broadband over existing telephone lines – while maintaining interoperability with carriers’ existing modems and seamless coexistence with deployed infrastructure.

“We are committed to driving leading edge technologies to meet carrier's unique requirements, including in Japan and Korea,” said Irvind Ghai, vice president of product management, Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. “With these new GigaDSL product offerings, we are able to meet carriers’ broadband goals, complementing fiber deployment in time for major events, such as the 2018 Winter Games in Korea and the 2020 Summer Games in Japan.”

Qualcomm said it already has design wins with Sumitomo Electronic, NEC and Wave Electronics.

“We are going to make every possible effort to replace our 1G-EPON FTTH products with 10G-EPON products in the FTTH market in Japan. The transition from VDSL to G.Fast (FDD) ‘GigaDSL’ is an important segment to realize this ‘10G upgrade’ for Telco carriers in order to complement the fiber deployment in MDU in Japan, and we are working closely with them and Qualcomm Technologies to deliver the solutions needed to make this a seamless transition,” said Hiroaki Nishimoto, general manager, broad networks division, Sumitomo Electric. “Sumitomo brings to bear our history of infrastructure expertise to make 10 Gigabit access technologies a reality.”

http://www.qualcomm.com

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Dell'Oro: VDSL and GPON Drive Strong Q2 Access Market

Total second quarter Access revenue, including PON, DSL, and Cable, surged 12% over the year-ago period, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group.  This growth was driven by a greater than 30% increase in VDSL port shipments and more than 40% increase for both GPON OLT port and ONT unit shipments.  The report shows that year-on-year growth was driven by higher shipments across all regions for both technologies.

“EMEA and North America accounted for the vast majority of VDSL shipments with Western Europe being especially strong as an increasing number of operators deploy vectoring products, which can significantly increase bandwidth while using existing copper infrastructure,” said Steve Nozik, Principal Analyst of Access research at Dell’Oro Group.  “For GPON, China continues to dominate the market but there was also significant growth in other regions especially Southeast Asia, Southern Europe and the Middle East,” Nozik added.

The report shows that in the second quarter, Alcatel-Lucent continued to hold the lead for VDSL port shipments, significantly ahead of the next two top vendors, Huawei Technologies and ADTRAN.  For GPON, Huawei Technologies and ZTE were the top two vendors due largely to their market leadership position in China, followed by Alcatel-Lucent in the number three position.

http://www.delloro.com/news/vdsl-and-gpon-drive-strong-second-quarter-access-market-growth

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Swisscom Marches Forward with Vectored VDSL

Swisscom announced a broadband milestone: over a million homes and businesses already connected to ultra-fast broadband network.

At the beginning of 2014, Swisscom started to roll out VDSL vectoring technology into those areas where Fibre to the Curb had been installed/  Across Switzerland, Swisscom has switched 200,000 homes and businesses over to vectoring, which makes it one of Europe's top providers. The roll-out of Fibre to the Street (FTTS) has already been completed in ten municipalities, for example Croy (VD), Wila (ZH), Iragna (TI), Prêles (BE) and Rothenthurm (SZ). The network is currently being rolled out to over 100 further municipalities.

Thanks to FTTS, broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps can now be achieved. Swisscom is also collaborating with Huawei to develop G.fast, a successor technology to VDSL.

http://www.swisscom.ch/en/about/medien/press-releases/2014/07/20140730-Netzausbau-Ultrabreitband.html

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Germany's Fraunhofer ESK Explores Gigabit over Existing Copper

Germany's Fraunhofer ESK has launched a multi-year research project in collaboration with Lantiq and InnoRoute Gmbh aimed at achieving gigabit broadband rates over existing copper access lines.

The research will explore channel properties in the 300 MHz frequency range over relatively short lengths of existing copper. VDSL2 utilizes frequencies up to 30 MHz.

The project is funded by the Bavarian Research Institute.

http://www.esk.fraunhofer.de/en/media/press_releases/pm1407.html

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