Portugal Telecom, Alcatel-Lucent to trial symmetrical 10G GPON

OCTOBER 28, 2010 -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it has agreed with Portugal Telecom to conduct a symmetrical 10-Gbps GPON trial. Portugal Telecom has already launched the trial, which will evaluate the delivery of broadband at speeds that will allow end-users to remotely store the contents of a 200-GB hard drive in three minutes.

“Portugal Telecom has been leading systematically in services and technology innovation, strongly investing in fiber-to-the-home -- using GPON technology -- to enable its customers to enjoy the highest bandwidths with the best quality of service,” says Alfredo Baptista, CTO of Portugal Telecom. “However, as services and bandwidth requirements keep on evolving rapidly, it is fundamental to continue to assess and evaluate the latest innovations -- such as the symmetrical 10G GPON technology that Alcatel-Lucent is providing for this trial.”

“Portugal Telecom operates in a highly competitive market and has made very important investments in GPON already. As such, it is of crucial importance to Portugal Telecom and all service providers that a smooth and non-disruptive evolution path to the next-generation GPON technology is confirmed,” said Dave Geary, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s wireline activities. “Through this symmetrical 10G GPON trial -- a first in Europe and building on the GPON partnership that we have in place already -- Alcatel-Lucent will work with Portugal Telecom to demonstrate that 10G GPON technology indeed provides the smooth upgrade path service providers have been looking for, supporting their future service offerings in a sustained way.”

Alcatel-Lucent has already trialed symmetrical 10G GPON, now the subject of XG-PON2 standards work, with Verizon (see “Verizon field trials XG-PON2 from Alcatel-Lucent”).

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