Openreach FTTdp and G.fast Test Hits 1.66Gbps Aggregate Broadband Speeds

A couple of months ago we became the first to detail Openreach’s trial of a combined FTTdp and G.fast broadband network that used hardware from NetComm Wireless. Today NetComm has confirmed that their test achieved a peak aggregate broadband speed of 1.66Gbps.

Full details of the test setup can be found in our original article from June 2017 (here), although suffice to say that the Fibre-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) based network made use of several key enhancements to G.fast technology in order to boost its performance (e.g. it can use up to 212MHz of spectrum instead of the 106MHz of initial deployments and the G.fast nodes can be reverse powered by home owners).

At the time Openreach told us that they had achieved a top downstream speed of up to 1Gbps and uploads of up to 300Mbps (c.1.3Gbps aggregate), which was apparently achieved at a distance of around 40 metres (copper run from the G.fast distribution point and into your home). By comparison the original G.fast Proof of Concept trial from a few years ago was only able to deliver an aggregate of around 600-700Mbps at a similar distance.

Fast forward two months to today and NetComm Wireless has now made an official announcement about the trial, which claims that the peak speed actually went even higher and hit a 1.66Gbps aggregate at the same distance of 40 metres. In theory this approach, using the latest amendments to the G.fast standard, could thus deliver an aggregate speed of around 1Gbps when installed up to 150 metres from the premise.

Timo Brouwer, COO of NetComm Wireless, said:

“NetComm Wireless began developing FTTdp DPUs when it became clear that an alternative to fibre to the premises was needed. Openreach is always looking forward, and we are pleased to have demonstrated the latest generation of Gfast FTTdpcapabilities that will support the broadband demands of the future.”

Peter Bell, Openreach’s Director of Network Solutions, said:

“Our aim is to deliver high-speeds to as many people, as quickly as possible. We’ve outlined plans to provide ultrafast speeds to 12 million premises by the end of 2020 and we want to go further. We’re working with NetComm Wireless to understand how we can deploy this technology closer to the premises to reach even more customers.”

All of this is possible because in an FTTdp deployment you can build smaller G.fast nodes (dp) much closer to homes (e.g. on top of telegraph poles), which compares with the current approach of sticking the kit inside an extension pod that’s then fixed to an existing PCP street cabinet (i.e. many homes exist further away than ideal and the advantages of G.fast are thus significantly reduced).

The downside is that FTTdp based G.fast is quite a bit more expensive to deploy, albeit not as expensive or slow to deploy as a “full fibre” (FTTP/H) roll-out. This could make it an attractive option, albeit one that would be quite complex due to the need for lots of small nodes (at present each one can only handle 4 ports). We note that the G.fast nodes also include support for VDSL2, which means that existing FTTC lines might also benefit.

We’ve long heard talk of FTTdp making a return to help cater for areas that exist outside of the current PCP cabinet approach. In fact G.fast was always envisaged as being an FTTdp approach but once Openreach found that it was considerably cheaper, while still being quite fast (service speed), to deploy it from cabinets then it made sense for them to alter their plan.

However the future of G.fast is currently in some flux as Openreach consult on the possibility of deploying significantly more 1Gbps capable FTTP/H than originally planned. Evidence on the ground (see Monday’s news) shows that G.fast is still very much being deployed in the UK but it remains to be seen if the on-going consultation changes the operator’s future approach.