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By
Tara
Seals
This opens up a new frontier for channel
partners looking to combine cloud services,
SD-WAN and other applications with connectiv-
ity for tailored end-user solutions.
According to Deloitte Global, the number
of 1 gigabit-per-second Internet connections
surged to 10 million globally in 2016, a tenfold
increase. About 30 percent of those are busi-
ness and enterprise connections. Looking fur-
ther ahead, Deloitte forecasts that about 600
million subscribers may be on networks that of-
fer a gigabit tier as of 2020, opening the door to
deliver personalized services and applications,
and to make the most of the wave of connected
devices that are making their way into the busi-
ness marketplace – especially in verticals such
as education, smart cities and healthcare.
Indeed, 2016 has seen a groundswell of
deployments in the United States, from both Tier
1 carriers including AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast
and Verizon, as well as competitive broadband
players. Many companies are now looking at new
innovations for 2017.
Google Fiber, which kicked off one of the first
1Gbps deployments back in 2012 in Kansas City,
has been a bellwether for gigabit access. For its
part, Google Fiber continues to expand to a hand-
ful of cities, but deployments should accelerate
now that it has acquired Webpass, a company that
is deeply invested in 5G. It also now has a license
granted by the FCC to explore “experimental radio
service” in 12 cities during the next 24 months.
AT&T meanwhile has spent the last few years
rolling out gigabit service across the U.S., looking
to meet Google Fiber’s challenge. AT&T is also
exploring wireless, with what it calls AirGig. The
technology is targeted to underserved areas, with
radios that can be mounted on utility poles.
Verizon has made gigabit service available
across its FiOS fiber footprint. And last year, it suc-
cessfully completed a test of a new technology on
its fiber-to-the-premises network, enabling 10Gbps
with the potential to grow to 40 to 80Gbps as the
market demands. This is possible by simply add-
ing new colors of light onto the existing fiber, each
augmenting the capacity by up to 10Gbps.
Carriers
Gettin’
‘Giggy’
with It
Zettabytes
G
igabit fiber access is becoming the next
chapter in deployment strategies for network
operators – and increasingly an affordable
option for businesses.
30
Channel
Vision
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January - February, 2017