Kabel Deutschland sets record with 4.7Gbps download speeds
About a year ago, Arris teased a system capable of 4.5Gbps downloads, and while that technology was in the proof-of-concept phase last June, it's beginning to look more like a real possibility. German network provider Kabel Deutschland just notched a new download speed record using Arris' C4 CMTs and Touchstone CM820S cable modems: a mind-blowing 4,700 Mbps (4.7 Gbps). The cable operator set that world-record rate in the city of Schwerin, where it recently updated its network to 862 MHz. The network may be capable of delivering those 4.7Gbps speeds, but the company noted that current laptops and modems can't even process such blazing data transfer rates. And before you North Americans get too excited, note that KD uses the EuroDOCSIS specification on the 8MHz channel, while the DOCSIS uses the 6MHz scheme in the US and beyond. Still, that's not to say that other cable providers like Verizon FiOS have been slacking lately -- 300Mbps downloads are nothing to scoff at.
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Kabel Deutschland achieves world record: 4.700 Mbit/s download speed in field test
- First cable operator worldwide to achieve 4.700 Mbit/s download speed (4,7 Gbit/s) via TV cable
- Successful field test in cable network of the city of Schwerin
- Download speed record in co-operation with ARRIS demonstrates future-proof capability of TV cable network
Unterfoehring, May 31st, 2012 – Kabel Deutschland (KD) is the first cable operator in the world to successfully achieve a download speed of 4.700 Mbit/s (4.7 Gbit/s) via the cable network in a field test. The future-proof network capacity of broadband cable was demonstrated in a field test in the cable network of the city of Schwerin. Back in 2010, KD already achieved a speed test peak of 1.17 Gbit/s in a field test in the cable network of the city of Hamburg. The maximum download speed of 4.7 Gbit/s achieved now in the Schwerin field test enables KD to transmit more bandwidth than current PC and laptops could process.
Successful field test in cable network of the city of Schwerin
Customers of Kabel Deutschland living in houses with a modernised inhouse network are already able to surf the internet with up to 100 Mbit/s in the cable network of the city of Schwerin which has been upgraded to 862 MHz. The Schwerin field test shows that an 862 MHz upgraded cable network is able to broadcast download speeds of up to 4.7 Gbit/s. „Using this speed, a DVD could theoretically be downloaded within eight seconds. Current standard laptops or modems cannot even process these high speeds. It will take many more years until users find online services and web content that need a download speed of up to 4.7 Gbit/s", explained Lorenz Glatz, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Kabel Deutschland. „The Schwerin field test demonstrates that the broadband cable network is already today a high-performance and sustainable infrastructure offering huge untapped potential. At the same time, it is the only broadband infrastructure in Germany that is able to provide these high bandwidths extensively", says Dr. Adrian v. Hammerstein, CEO of Kabel Deutschland.
Download speed record in co-operation with ARRIS demonstrates technological lead of TV cable
The field test was carried out on a test account in a school in the modernised cable network of the city of Schwerin. Works such as civil engineering were not needed. The 4.7 Gbit/s field test is completely based upon already available standards, technologies and hardware. In co-operation with technology leader ARRIS, KD uses the EuroDocsis 3.0 standard that is being extensively utilised in the footprint of Kabel Deutschland. The KD head-end in Schwerin used a standard commercial ARRIS C4® CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System, the counterpart of the cable provider to the cable modem in the customer household) from ARRIS. In the school KD connected a broadband test setup of twelve ARRIS Touchstone CM820S cable modems that supplied the download speed by channel bundling. „Our field test with a download speed of significantly more than 4 Gbit/s was a complete success and underlines once more the possibilities of a cable network as the only extensive ultra-broadband network in the German broadband market", Glatz summarises.
