TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • DSP Leaders
  • Great Telco Debate
    • |
    • Follow
    • |
    • Subscribe
  • |
  • More
  • Webcasts
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Great Telco Debate
  • |
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • |
    • Subscribe
    • |
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

News

News

Amsterdam: where the streets are paved with copper

Nov 5, 2013

Let me look back at an intense but rewarding few days in Amsterdam at Broadband World Forum 2013. At times, visitors to Alcatel-Lucent’s booth were packed in more tightly than copper pairs in a binder. And the crosstalk was just as loud.

Which is kind of appropriate as the majority of the buzz at the show this year was about copper: a 160 year old technology that just keeps on giving.

From our own VDSL2 vectoring micro-nodes launch to standing-room only at the G.Fast content hub, the interest in the latest copper technologies was extremely high. Even our competitors were announcing trials and tests of G.fast and VDSL2 vectoring solutions. Oh, and a copper innovation (Alcatel-Lucent’s Zero Touch Vectoring) won Infovision’s “Best Broadband Access Award: Fixed”. Copper really seemed to outshine fiber this year.

Is that a sign of the economic times? Partly. Service providers certainly have to prioritize their investments, and if they can meet customer demand for ultra-broadband using existing infrastructure, that makes a lot of sense. Even with new fiber deployments, services providers need to be as cost conscious as possible; hence the strong interest at BBWF in our Motive Network Analyzer which allows service providers to validate and troubleshoot fiber connections during installation or operation, or our EPON solution for cable operators, announced just ahead of BBWF, which gives MSOs a cost-effective way of bringing fiber into their networks.

But it’s about more than money. Over the last year we’ve see the lines blur considerably between copper and fiber. It used to be that our customers were firmly in either a fiber-to-the-home or a VDSL mindset. Now our fiber customers are looking at copper again, and our copper customers are looking at bringing fiber closer to their subscribers – all with one objective in mind: to connect more people, more quickly. And of course the end-user doesn’t care what technology they have. They just want fast internet access, now.

For me, it’s all about options; a mix of technologies that work seamlessly together and from which service providers choose whatever is the most suitable for each deployment. Urban new builds will get fiber-to-the-home. A historic street in an old town will get fiber-to-the-distribution point, using VDSL2 micro-nodes today and G.Fast tomorrow.

That’s why I think copper was so high on the agenda at BBWF. Recent breakthroughs in G.Fast and vectoring have put it back in the mix as a viable broadband access technology for years to come. Fiber-to-the-home is still the future, but there are many paths to get there. And some of them are paved with copper.

But that’s my opinion. Have a look at what Sophie thinks:

Related Topics
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • News

More Like This

5G

What’s up with… Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, 5G in Brazil

Feb 26, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

Australia’s Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code has landed

Feb 26, 2021

Access Evolution

Cellnex takes on active role with €1.6 billion Polkomtel acquisition

Feb 26, 2021

5G

Vodafone UK appoints new network, IT execs

Feb 25, 2021

5G

What’s up with… Marvell + Fujitsu, Telefónica, Equinix

Feb 25, 2021

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

On-demand Workshop: How to build your cloud native 5G core platform

16:48

The case for mmWave in 5G networks

25:55

The Private Mobility Opportunity for Enterprises

12:04

VMware learnings from DISH 5G rollout

  • TelecomTV
  • Decisive Media

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media

Menu
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
 
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About Us
Our Brands
  • TelecomTV Tracker
  • TelecomTV Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • The Great Telco Debate
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070

Request a Media Pack

Follow
  • © Decisive Media Limited 2021. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Legal Notices