Technology

Thanks to a bit of lateral thinking, Alcatel-Lucent has come up with a way to lower the initial cost of deploying TWDM-PON, which should make it easier for operators to consider adopting the latest in fixed-line broadband technology.

Time- and wavelength-division multiplexed PON is the approach chosen for the next generation of passive optical networks. Announced in October 2014, Alcatel-Lucent’s TWDM-PON system was the first on the market. It delivers 40Gb/s of capacity via four 10Gb/s transmitters, each on a different wavelength.

Verizon has deployed 100G coherent optical transmission technology in three more countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

This deployment, which was based on the Fujitsu Flashwave 9500 ROADM and Ciena 5430 reconfigurable switching system, adds approximately 11,681 terrestrial and submarine miles (18,800km) to the company's extensive 100G network in the US and Europe. Verizon has deployed more than 32,000 100G miles already deployed on its US network and 8,500 100G miles in Europe.

AFL has been awarded four patents, including three new ones. They cover technologies used in AFL’s optical connectivity products, fibre-optic cables and test and inspection equipment. 

Alcatel-Lucent has completed a field trial on the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable system that achieved a capacity of 12.6 Tb/s per fibre pair.

Connecting France to the West Coast of Africa, the ACE cable system connects 16 countries, including 13 African nations, seven of which were connected to the global Internet backbone for the first time when the first phase of the system became operational in 2012.

Slovak Telekom has announced that it has successfully moved its entire customer base - 678,000 business and residential customers combined - to an IP (Internet Protocol) based network.

The company follows in the footsteps of another Deutsche Telekom subsidiary that has switched to an all-IP network; Makedonski Telekom in Macedonia completed the switch in February 2014. More than 35 per cent of its customer base in Europe is now using all-IP networks, the German operator says.

Infinera wants to show the advantages of having a selection of advanced coherent modulation formats when upgrading submarine cable systems

Researchers from UK universities and industry have come together in a unique collaboration to develop secure quantum communication technologies.

Led by the University of York, the project has bid successfully for government funding from the new £155 million National Network of Quantum Technology Hubs. The researchers hope to build compact, affordable quantum encryption devices, as well as the UK's first optical network secured by the fundamental laws of physics.

Hibernia Networks has announced that it will land a direct connection of its Express cable to Cork, Ireland via a new landing station. Hibernia is the only transatlantic cable provider to own and operate three different cable landing stations in Ireland and the only provider with six diverse routes connecting the island to North America and Europe on its wholly owned and operated infrastructure.

BT has announced trials of Fibre to the Basement (FTTB), a technique that could deliver broadband to hard-to-access locations in cities across the UK. The technology, developed and funded by BT, is the first deployment of its kind anywhere in the country and will be piloted in two City of London buildings from next month.

As a result of the trial, 225 homes in the Middlesex Street Estate and around 50 SMEs based at 65 London Wall will have access to download speeds of up to 80Mbps from more than 130 different service providers for the first time.

Verizon has successfully deployed what it is calling the first office application of 200G technology. The 200G wavelength was provisioned in early December over approximately 200 miles on Verizon's ultra-long-haul production network between Boston and New York.

This demonstration highlights that 200G technology works with existing network infrastructure without impacting live customer traffic carried on the same network removing the need to make costly modifications to existing fibre or network equipment.