NEWS RELEASE
Broadband Industry Leaders Launch GiGA Wire Alliance to Enable
Ultra-Broadband Services over Existing Copper Networks
GiGA Wire Alliance will include Service Providers, Equipment Manufacturers and Silicon Vendors
developing Gigabit Broadband Access solutions that leverage ITU-T G.hn standard
London, United Kingdom, October 18, 2016
News highlights:

Industry leaders launch GiGA Wire Alliance with the goal of promoting worldwide
adoption of Gigabit FTTdp/FTTB broadband access solutions powered by the ITU-T G.hn
standard.

GiGA Wire solutions are based on the open G.hn standard, which enables service
provider to use any in-building copper infrastructure (phone lines, UTP cables and
coaxial cables) to deliver Gigabit services without the high cost associated with installing
new optical fiber.

GiGA Wire Alliance will serve as forum for sharing best practices, ensuring standard
compliance and interoperability, and collaborating with existing standards organizations.
This week at Broadband World Forum (London) the GiGA Wire Alliance is exhibiting for the first time
as a unified industry effort, with Korea Telecom, Marvell, Ubiquoss and Lightworks as initial
members. The GiGA Wire Alliance has been created with the goal of establishing a broad ecosystem
of vendors and service providers working together to deliver the next-generation of copper-based
gigabit broadband access networks. By using the open G.hn standard, service providers can leverage
existing copper infrastructure in Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs) to deliver advanced services such as
4K/8K IPTV, Virtual Reality or Cloud storage. Members of the GiGA Wire Alliance will benefit from
sharing experiences and ensure interoperability of platforms from different vendors that focus on
Gigabit Broadband Access deployment.
The announcement comes only 4 months after Korea Telecom unveiled in July 2016 its GiGA Internet
deployment capable of supporting over 1 Gbps to any customer over single-pair phoneline or twopair UTP cabling. Korea Telecom first launched the GiGA Wire technology services in Korea back in
2014 using first generation G.hn silicon.
Over the last 2 years, service providers in several parts of the world have learned from KT’s
experience in making use of both existing network assets and new acceleration technologies to bring
faster speeds more cost effectively and much sooner than with traditional FTTH (fiber-to-the-home)
rollouts. Following Korea’s example, a range of successful deployments have been announced in
Spain, Turkey and many other countries around the world, with Internet speeds improved to 10
times faster than VDSL-based connectivity.
Using the latest version of the G.hn standard, GiGA Wire platforms can deliver line rates up to 2
Gigabits/second, enabling the same range of services as traditional FTTH. Service Providers
deploying GiGA Wire platforms can benefit from multi-vendor interoperability, with systems that are
specifically optimized for carrier requirements such as multicast IPTV, cloud-based management or
dynamic bandwidth allocation.
The flexibility of the G.hn standard allows GiGA Wire implementations to adapt to different network
topologies, ranging from high-density MDUs with hundreds of subscribers, to single-port solutions
that enable cost-effective “Pay As You Grow” deployment models. GiGA Wire platforms can operate
over single-pair phone line, two-pair UTP and coaxial cables (both in point-to-point and point-tomultipoint configurations), providing unprecedented levels of flexibility to service providers.
Dr. Dongmyun Lee, head of the Institute of Convergence Technology in KT, said, “ As the world’s first
service provider to deliver Giga Internet and GiGA Wire solutions, KT has now established a solid foothold
as an ICT leader in the world market. We value our partnership with Ubiquoss and Lightworks to promote
the ecosystem of GiGA Wire through Creative Economy and Innovation for Small and Medium Sized
(SMEs) companies in Korea to enter global market.”
Chano Gómez, Senior Director of Broadband Solutions at Marvell said: “The G.hn standard is
currently the most mature and cost-effective option to deliver gigabit broadband services over
exiting in-home and in-building copper networks, with millions of G.hn chips shipping annually. The
convergence of in-home and in-building networking enabled by G.hn ensures the economies of scale
required to sustain rapid silicon innovation cycles that benefit consumers and service providers.”
This week the GiGA Wire Alliance is displaying multiple demonstrations of G.hn-based GiGA Wire
solutions at Broadband World Forum in London’s ExCel Centre, from 18-20 October, 2016 at Booth
D42.
ENDS
For sending your expression of interest to join the GiGA Wire Alliance, please contact the GiGA Wire
Alliance by email at [email protected]
About GiGA Wire Alliance
GiGA Wire Alliance is an industry alliance dedicated to enabling next-generation copper access
networks that leverage the open G.hn standard to deliver faster-than-gigabit broadband services.
The Alliance brings together service providers, equipment vendors and silicon vendors working
together to create an ecosystem that ensure continuous improvement of GiGA Wire technology. The
Alliance members are focused on helping service providers leverage existing in-building copper
infrastructure (phone lines, UTP cables and coaxial cables) to deploy broadband networks at a
fraction of the cost of traditional FTTH deployments. The Alliance leverages existing standards and
specification developed by well-known organizations such as ITU-T, Broadband Forum and
HomeGrid Forum.
For more information on GiGA Wire Alliance, please visit our website at www.gigawire-alliance.org.