ATLANTA - (Editor's Note: This release was jointly released by Lucent and Bell South.) Suburban Atlanta residents will be the first in North America to experience the nearly unlimited speed and bandwidth of passive optical networking delivered directly to their homes.
A passive optical network (PON) uses high-capacity, optical fiber to transmit voice, data and video. It's called "passive" because it eliminates the "active" electronics - which require AC power - now residing in outside cabinets and pedestals located between BellSouth's central offices and customers. A passive optical network will also reduce BellSouth's costs because of the elimination of an external power source.
BellSouth plans to install the new fiber optic system to connect its switching offices to some 400 Atlanta customer homes. The system ultimately will be used to deliver voice, video and high-speed data access using the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) data networking protocol, the fastest technology in use today.
In this first installation, BellSouth will offer participating residential customers:
Internet access at super high speeds through a 100 megabit-per-second interface (actual speeds available to customers during the trial will be limited to tariffed BellSouth consumer high-speed data offerings)
"BellSouth's latest step provides the final link for an all-fiber connection from our switch all the way to the home, instead of terminating fiber at the curb. Fiber to the home is BellSouth's ultimate platform for satisfying our customers' voracious appetite for bandwidth, an appetite that is growing at exponential rates."
Kettler also pointed out that BellSouth is currently involved in joint research on fiber to the home with Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Company. "The Atlanta installation builds on our research collaboration with NTT, which is creating common technical specifications for optical network systems as part of our participation in the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) industry consortium."
The optical fiber access system to be used in the Atlanta installation was developed by Lucent Technologies and Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. The integrated system consists of Lucent optical access network equipment, Oki optical line terminals, a network operating system and analog optical network terminals. A Lucent optical network termination unit will be installed inside the customer's home to convert optical signals into high-speed Ethernet data for the customer's personal computer. An Oki analog optical networking unit will be used to provide video signals to the customer's TV.
"By deploying a PON system, BellSouth is demonstrating its industry leadership in optical access networks and its vision to deliver fiber optics directly to the customer's home," said Steven Russell, vice-president - BellSouth Region for Lucent Technologies in Atlanta. "Passive optical networks and fiber to the home will help future-proof BellSouth's network," Russell said.
"This new system gives users the ability to support not only today's but tomorrow's bandwidth-intensive multimedia applications," said Ikuo Matsuoka, general manager of the Transmission Systems Divisions, Oki Electric. "With Oki's technical know-how and more than 100 years of industry experience, it is our pleasure to collaborate with Lucent Technologies to build BellSouth's initial PON installation."
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