Whilst FTTH (such as GPON) has widely been touted as the optimal solution for providing Gigabit connectivity, there are still fundamental challenges for operator to lay fibre for those final metres to the subscriber’s home.

G.Fast is a promising technology that is attracting increasing interest from operators looking to provide FTTH-like speeds without the trouble and cost associated with fibre. G.Fast promise to provide theoretical aggregate upstream and downstream capacity of up to 1Gbps at distances of up to 500m using existing copper phone line infrastructure.

G.Fast achieves this by compounding various technologies that improves both speed and reach around VDSL2. This is done by combining technologies such as pair-bonding (bonding two copper pairs together), vectoring (eliminating cross talk or interference between different VDSL2 lines) and phantom mode (creating virtual pairs between copper pairs).

In combination with GPON, the operator now has a more cost effective method of deploying FTTH-speeds to the subscriber’s home by deploying fibre up to the last 200m, from which the distribution point can then utilise G.Fast to complete the final metres.

ITU has already began the project on G.Fast in February 2011 with the expectation for an industry approved standard by March 2014. D-Link is working today with selective Operators to achieve FTTdp deployment and trials. Please contact us for more information as we work with your local Operators to trial this new technology.