Alcatel-Lucent is to launch two new products that will allow consumers to experience their communications provider’s gigabit speeds throughout the home and in turn, faster more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity across all their devices.
More and more consumers are subscribing to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services that deliver broadband speeds of hundreds of megabits per second or even a gigabit per second. However, those speeds are difficult to maintain throughout the home due to poor Wi-Fi speeds and reliability. The problem gets worse as consumers increase the number of devices simultaneously connected to the Internet – including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, gaming devices and more.
Alcatel-Lucent’s new 7368 Intelligent Service Access Manager (ISAM) optical network terminal (ONT) is a home network hub that solves this problem, ensuring consistent distribution of broadband speed throughout the house. By using dual-band Wi-Fi and greater signal strength, it provides 1Gbps of bandwidth and better in-home coverage, meaning that there is no impact on speeds or the customer experience as more devices are connected.
Alcatel-Lucent is also launching a new capability for its FTTH portfolio that will allow operators to connect customers more quickly and easily. ‘ONT Easy Start’ is an online activation feature that combines Alcatel-Lucent’s Motive family of customer experience management solutions with its services expertise to allow consumers to activate their new FTTH services via a web portal. ONT Easy Start helps operators reduce the time and cost of sending field technicians to homes while also reducing the homeowners inconvenience of having to wait for a visit. Replacing the manual, time-consuming registration process will also reduce the risk of human error.
Federico Guillén, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Fixed Access Business Line said: “With the Internet of Things enabling an unprecedented number of objects to interact and share data, connected device shipments are expected to grow at a faster rate than smartphones and tablets over the next few years, placing huge demands on home Wi-Fi networks. By offering the first gigabit Wi-Fi solution we are helping operators deliver on the promise of their fibre networks to meet their customers’ ever-growing demands for connectivity and speed. ONT Easy Start will open up new options for operators, allowing them to free up resources as they reduce costs.”
The company is now trialling the new ONT with customers, and will make it and the ONT Easy Start feature commercially available during the third quarter of 2015.