SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 -- Nortel (search for Nortel) and LG-Nortel today introduced a new Ethernet Access system to help service providers prevent bandwidth bottlenecks in the critical "first mile" of their networks. This will allow for faster and more reliable delivery of data between high-speed core networks and individual user access points. The Ethernet Access technology was developed by LG-Nortel, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel (see "Making the Case for WDM-PON").
Designed to clear up first mile network traffic jams caused by bandwidth-hungry applications such as HD video, Nortel's Ethernet Access offering is one of the industry's first to use WDM-PON (search for WDM-PON) architecture. This technology makes it possible to divide a single optical fiber into multiple wavelengths, each capable of carrying the same bandwidth that previously required an entire fiber. This approach powers the Internet to ultra-fast speeds to the first mile by giving each user their own wavelength delivering dedicated bandwidth straight to their home or business, say LG-Nortel representatives.
The dedicated bandwidth in Nortel's Ethernet Access offering provides network users with more security over connections that are always available and never stalled or slowed down by other traffic on the network.
In the hyperconnected  world where the number and types of devices connected to networks is outpacing the number of people using them, consumers want to access such bandwidth-hungry services as HD video on demand quickly, without waiting hours for a download to complete. Today's networks often fall short in supporting these major demands for bandwidth because the first mile connection from the network core to a user's home or business is shared among many different users, causing network traffic jams, security issues, and serious slowing of upload and download speeds, especially at certain times of day when Internet traffic is heavy.
"Think of the network's bandwidth traffic as millions of cars on an ultra-fast highway," explains Peter MacKinnon, president and chairman, LG-Nortel. "Today, many 'cars' get stuck in traffic jams on access ramps as they travel that first mile to enter the highway or as they travel to their final destination. Nortel's Ethernet Access solution gives each car its own off and on ramp by dedicating a single wavelength for each user. The solution is fast and secure because it is not shared with anyone else."
"Service providers are seeking more utility out of their deep-fiber access networks," adds Michael Howard, Infonetics Research. "PON systems can do this; however, today's PON systems share bandwidth among many users and thus have painful bandwidth constrictions, whereas a WDM-PON can serve up 10 to 20 times the capacity with a dedicated wavelength to each destination, whether to home, building, or DSLAM. Consumers want a super-fast broadband network that can download music in seconds and movies in minutes," he says, "and carriers want backhaul facilities to carry residential and business traffic. Service providers can solve these problems with a simple, point-to-point Ethernet WDM-PON to meet the ever-growing demands for bandwidth from their customers."
Nortel says its WDM-PON Ethernet Access system offers operators a competitive edge over those using other PON technologies by allowing them to accelerate the deployment of fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-building with a simple engineering and deployment model. The network performance is also symmetrical, meaning both the upload and download speeds are the same so it can effectively support multimedia applications like video-calling. This allows operators to broaden their portfolios and offer innovative new services that could result in increased Average Revenue Per User and greater customer loyalty.
The new system will be demonstrated at this year's Broadband World Forum in Belgium from September 29 - October 1, 2008, in Nortel's Booth #474.