Researchers Set Record for 100 Terabits per Second via Fiber
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, May 2, 2011 · 
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Two separate research groups have set a world record by sending more than 100 terabits of data per second through a single optical fiber. To give you some perspective, that’s enough to deliver three solid months of HD video or the contents of 250 double-sided Blu-ray discs.
Clearly this is far beyond today’s commercial data needs. Tim Strong of Telegeography Research notes that total capacity between New York and Washington D.C., one of the world’s busiest routes, is currently a few terabits per second; but Strong also points out that traffic has been growing at about 50% a year for the last few years, and with new, bandwidth-hungry video-streaming services, network engineers are searching for ways to expand the capacity of our existing fiber investment.
The New Scientist has the details on these breakthrough innovations: Read more
Frontier Improves Network Performance with Optical Upgrades
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 11, 2011 · ·
On the heels of its recent takeover of Verizon’s rural wireline assets in 14 states, Frontier Communications announced last week that it is deploying new packet-optical transport technology.
To date, approximately 345 reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) systems have been integrated into Frontier’s networks to improve network flexibility and manageability. By mid-year Frontier plans to add more than 6,500 miles of ROADM network. This new technology is based upon Tellabs optical solutions.
ROADM allows optical network operators to remotely switch traffic at the wavelength layer. Frontier reports these overall ROADM benefits: Read more
5.8 Million North American Homes Now Have Fiber
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 19, 2010 · ·
As of March of this year, North America boasts approximately 18.2 million homes passed with fiber to the home (FTTH) connections, this according to a new study commissioned by the Fiber to the Home Council.
“Homes passed,” is a confusing term, however, that doesn’t always mean that service is available. As a result, the study found that all-fiber networks are now available for 17 million or 16% of homes in North America, with 5.8 million homes actually subscribing to television, high-speed Internet and/or phone service over these networks. Read more
Fiber Deployment on Rise in Rural America
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, November 23, 2009 · ·
NTCA’s 2009 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey found that 73% of those respondents with a fiber deployment strategy intend to offer fiber to the node to more than 75% of their customers by year-end 2011, while 55% plan to offer fiber to the home to at least half of their customers over the same time frame, up from 26% last year.
Rural areas are seeing significant gains in broadband speeds, primarily due to the increased fiber availability in their communities, according to the survey.
Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated their customers can now receive broadband service of between 3Mbps-6 Mbps (up from 46% last year), and 39% can receive service in excess of 6 Mbps—an increase from just 25% one year ago. Survey respondents indicated an increase in take rates for the higher broadband speed tiers as well. Read more
5.3 Million North American Fiber Customers
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, October 5, 2009 · ·
The number of North American fiber to the home (FTTH) subscribers now stands at more than 5.3 million, as deployers of end-to-end fiber networks continue to add more than 1.5 million customers a year, according to a study released last week by the FTTH Council.
Five years after their deployment began in earnest, FTTH networks now are available to 15% of homes in North America. In addition, the study found that the overall take rate — the percentage of those offered FTTH service who decide to subscribe — increased for the seventh straight six-month period, with the vast majority of providers experiencing take rates greater than 50%. Read more