JULY 1, 2010 -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it is deploying an open access GPON fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network for the delivery of triple-play services (TV, telephony, and high-speed Internet) at bandwidths of up to 100 Mbps in Sasbachwalden, Germany. In total, the GPON FTTH network will serve 1,555 households in 648 separate buildings in 44 different streets.
The community itself initiated and realized the GPON FTTH project -- from the initial idea to the selection of Alcatel-Lucent as a technology partner -- together with a planning office and in close coordination with Neue Medien im Ländlichen Raum, a state clearinghouse that advises rural communities in Baden-Württemberg on broadband access.
“This optical fiber project is an important step in readying our community -- and the vacation region as a whole -- for the future, fulfilling a long-held dream,” said Valentin Doll, mayor of Sasbachwalden. “We recently lost a number of businesses due to our poor Internet access. Companies often moved to neighboring Alsace on the other bank of the Rhine, where high-speed Internet has been available for some time now. Broadband has also become an important factor for the touristic industry; it is no longer possible to market yourself as a venue for seminars or conventions without good Internet access.”
As a model rural broadband project, the FTTH network has received financial support from the state of Baden-Württemberg as part of the federal government’s future investment program. The project also aims to gain experience in the expansion of broadband infrastructure in rural areas, and apply this across Germany.
The FTTH network is based on the OmniSwitch 6850 IP service integration platform and the 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU) GPON suite.
Alcatel-Lucent touts the project as an example of its “Open Community Broadband” program, which aim to help operators of “citynets” around the world -- i.e., open access networks typically operated by municipal governments or utilities -- to manage the complexities that are typical of FTTH deployments.
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