eircom turns on vectoring to support 100-Mbps broadband speeds

Irish incumbent telco eircom has confirmed that it will a deploy vectoring on its fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) network to enable broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Vectoring is a noise-cancelling technology that delivers higher broadband speeds to customers. The technology will be deployed early in 2014 across eircom’s entire next-generation access network and will be included as new cabinets are added to the network.

As a result, broadband providers that choose to use eircom’s fiber-optic network will be able to offer their customers a top speed of 100 Mbps. Once the fiber network construction is complete in June 2015, eircom estimates that 700,000 homes and businesses across the country will achieve consistent reliable speeds of 70 Mbps or better, and more than 400,000 premises will be able to access download speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

eircom says it will be one of the first operators in Europe and the first in Ireland to use vectoring on a commercial basis. It joins Belgacom, which turned on vectoring on its national network last month (see “Belgacom switches on VDSL2 vectoring network”).

And it certainly won’t be the last operator to embrace vectoring. In a recent market research survey, 70% of operators said they were actively deploying or testing out vectoring technology (see “Survey confirms operator demand for VDSL2 vectoring”)

Carolan Lennon, managing director eircom wholesale, said, “Today’s announcement will deliver real benefits for broadband users across Ireland. Introducing vectoring is an important first for Ireland and another important step for eircom as we deliver superfast broadband as part of our €1.5 billion strategic infrastructure investment. Deploying this technology also puts the country within touching distance of one of Minister Rabbitte’s ambitious targets to provide half the country with broadband speeds between 70-100 Mbps by 2015.”

Launched in May 2013, eircom’s fiber-optic network is still being rolled out across the country (see “eircom unveils national high-speed broadband network”). On average, 15 km of optical fiber is deployed each working day together with 75 additional cabinets, reaching 15,000 additional customers each week. Currently more than 400,000 customers can order fiber broadband service. When completed in June 2015, it will be Ireland’s largest superfast broadband network with more than 12,000 km of optical fiber, reaching 1.2 million homes and businesses across 300 communities throughout the country.

Eircom says the deployment of this technology has been agreed between eircom and its industry partners. The operator did not name its supplier.

For more information on FTTx/access systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.