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and have achieved fantastic trial speeds
of nearly 970Mbps over a stretch of 20m
copper cable – so, the potential is huge.”
According to fixed broadband analyst
firm Point Topic’s chief executive, Oliver
Johnson, many leading markets will
adopt G.Fast in the next five years, with
coverage in some mature countries
potentially approaching 50%.
“G.Fast is a vital technology for
operators with copper in their
networks,” he says.
A new Point Topic report revealed
that at least 100 million people are
expected to be subscribed to gigabit
labelled services by 2020. Between now
and then, the Compound Annual Growth
Rate (CAGR) of subscribers to gigabit
tariffs is projected to be at least 65%.
Close to 70% percent of growth is
expected to come from Asia Pacific.
“G.Fast clearly works best
economically in a mature market with
copper in the local loop so I expect most
of today’s leading markets will have
some G.Fast in the next five years and
some should see coverage approaching
50% of the market,” he says.
The report shows there are currently
less than 10 million subscriptions on a
gigabit connection but predicts that is
set to change with more gigabit tariffs
on the market than ever before and the
cost of services dropping.
Broadband Forum chief executive
Robin Mersh said operators should take
the picture painted by Point Topic as a
clear call to action to consider G.Fast
deployments in their networks, and
to use Broadband Forum standards
and certifications, such as the newly
developed YANG management models for
FTTdp equipment and the interoperability
testing program for G.Fast devices.
“The rate of growth predicted by Point
Topic’s latest figures shows the scale
of the issue the broadband industry is
facing and why adopting key enabling
technologies for ultra-fast access is so
important,” he says.
“The growing trend of gigabit services
points to the fact that more and more
people want to use next-generation
services, like 4K video, location-based
services, security, home automation,
video sharing, gaming and home office
collaboration. G.Fast is how operators
with copper in their networks can still
enable all these things.”
But, it would appear, not everybody is
a fan of the new technology, or at least
of the nbn’s plans to incorporate it into
its product mix.
In a blog post, telecommunications
analyst Paul Budde has described the
technology as “more hype than reality.”
“Part of the problem is that the
technology uses a much larger frequency
range of signal processing bandwidth
than other copper technologies over a
much shorter copper length. Some of
these overlap those used by commercial
VDSL, so running both technologies
together causes interference,” he says.
“Another problem is the extra
power supply that is needed for the
nodes that need to be deployed within
this technology.”
While this can all be resolved, it only
adds further to the complexity of the
already multi-technology mix that the
company is using for the rollout of the
NBN, he says.
“Further trials are planned for 2016.
Technically they expect to be ready
for commercial launches in 2017, but if
they then decide to use the technology
extensively it will take many years
to move it into residential markets –
basically another rollout, with all the
associated costs attached.
“This development also depends on
the availability of commercially priced
hardware needed, to make sure such a
rollout is indeed cost-effective. Currently
it seems most likely that it will be a
business product offering rather than a
residential one.
“The question raised by all these band
aid solutions is whether the end result
will be better and cheaper than the
original ‘do it once, do it good’
FTTH approach.”
It’s clear that as far as Tony Cross is
concerned, the positives far outweigh
any potential downside.
In a blog he wrote on the nbn’s
website, he said: “One of the things
that most excites us about G.Fast is the
flexibility that it gives us.”
“We could deploy it in apartment
buildings by simply installing new
equipment into the basement. We could
supply a group of houses via a FTTdP
model or even just a single premises if
need be. There are numerous options.
G.Fast really allows us to remove the
need to actually enter premises to
deliver ultra-fast speeds.
“The other great thing about G.Fast is
that it solves a couple of real headaches.
“Firstly, with G.Fast we think retail
service providers could offer end users
a range of product plans, including
symmetrical speeds of, for example,
300Mbps download and upload,
something that would hold great value
for commercial end users who wanted to
have access to extremely fast
upload speeds.
“Secondly, G.Fast would allow us
to deliver ultra-fast speeds without
actually needing to enter people’s
homes – something that enables a
much smoother rollout and is far more
convenient for end users.
“If all goes well, we are looking to
be able to launch G.Fast in around
2017 so over the next couple of years
we will be learning as much as
we possibly can from our global
counterparts as we strive to bring fast
broadband to Australians.”
For cablers, the best part is that the
new technology won’t hamper your
potential to make money from the
rollout. Cable still needs to be pulled all
the way into the building - you’re just
saving yourself the hassle of running
cable over the last mile.