Telekom Austria's A1 subsidiary says it will pair fiber to the building (FTTB) with G.fast to bring high-speed broadband to apartment buildings in Graz. The use of G.fast will enable delivery of what A1 says will be "several hundred Mbps" over existing copper infrastructure within the buildings.
A1 says it will run fiber-optic cable to the basement of the apartment buildings, where a converter (likely a G.fast distribution point unit) will transfer the signal to the building's existing wiring. The operator says it retains the option of recabling the building with fiber at a later date.
"With the FTTB variant we can transfer, thanks to new technical processes like G.fast, on the existing copper lines in-building data rates of several hundred Mbps per apartment. Even large buildings are suited for this method, "said Marcus Cruel, A1 CTO.
A1 tapped Alcatel-Lucent to supply G.fast technology before the latter's acquisition by Nokia (see "A1 Telekom Austria taps Alcatel-Lucent for broadband network upgrade, including G.fast").
A1 plans to roll out FTTB to more than 30,000 households in the districts Geidorf, St. Leonhard, and Gries within the next 12 months. The service provider says it will connect more than 20,000 households in less densely populated areas (Wetzelsdorf, Webling, Andritz and Maria Trost) to a fiber to the curb (FTTC) infrastructure. New buildings will receive fiber to the home (FTTH).
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