Nokia has unveiled Gigabit Connect, its spin on G.fast that the company says enables “hiding the complexity” of the technology as operators use it to deliver broadband services to MDU customers via in-building twisted-pair or coaxial cables.
G.fast enables gigabit broadband transmission over existing twisted-pair or coax in applications where operators can’t deploy fiber directly to individual MDU tenants (see "G.fast for MDUs: I can’t believe it’s not fiber!"). Nokia believes that operators who focus on fiber to the home exclusively may not have in-house expertise in providing services over copper media. Gigabit Connect circumvents such issues by enabling operators to manage their G.fast connections as fiber endpoints under a “single pane of glass” management interface.
“We estimate that 20% of MDUs are challenging for new fiber installations. Using G.fast over a building’s existing cables goes a long way to solving the problem, but it can be a challenge for operators to build expertise in new technologies,” commented Sandy Motley, president, fixed networks at Nokia. “With Gigabit Connect, we are hiding the complexity, enabling plug-and-play fiber deployment and ongoing management as with any normal fiber line. Furthermore, consumers will experience the same speed and low-latency performance as standard fiber.”
Pan Dacom Networking AG of Germany is already using Gigabit Connect, alongside Nokia’s Lightspan SX G.fast distribution point units (DPUs) and Altiplano Network Management System, to help broadband service provider R-Kom to connect 4,000 buildings in Eastern Bavaria. “We are using G.fast for the last drop and use zero-touch provisioning with SDAN [Software Defined Access Networks]. Nokia’s solution extends what can be done with SDAN and has helped reduce deployment times by 50% with configuration from the cloud,” stated Thomas Klein, head of Sales & Technology Competence Center at Pan Dacom Networking.
“Thanks to Nokia’s scalable and future-proof solution, thousands of Bavarians living in previous fiber no-go homes can now look forward to gigabit broadband,” added Alfred Rauscher, managing director at R-KOM.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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