RSSSprint joins an initiative to promote 4G 100 Gbps networks
By Michael Hatamoto | Published May 28, 2008, 4:52 PM
Sprint Nextel and NetLogic Microsystems today announced they will offer their guidance to a new nonprofit organization to aid the development and adoption of new networking platforms from 40 Gbps products up to 100 Gbps and beyond.
The Road to 100G Alliance, first introduced at NXTcomm 2007, continues its aim of developing a set of standards for interoperability in the still chaotic world of high capacity data networks.
The Alliance was founded by Bay Microsystems, Lattice Semiconductor, Enigma Semiconductor, IDTTM, and IP Infusion.
Even though Sprint has been losing customers in its mobile phone service division, the company has most recently been promoting its Xohm WiMAX network that is scheduled to beat Verizon Wireless and AT&T to 4G. The company still has a long way to go to reclaim a leadership position among customers in the wireless industry, and hopes its efforts in the Alliance will help it regain momentum.
Sprint's participation in the Alliance will hopefully involve upgrading its current networks to at least 40 Gbps. Verizon Wireless has already upgraded some of its 10 Gbps networks up to 40 Gbps, including the network operating between New York City and Washington, DC.
In 2006, there were more than 229 million broadband subscribers online, with 60 million new users over a 12-month period when the statistics were collected. Research published on the Alliance Web site indicates there will be at least 350 million broadband subscribers in 2009, with almost 300 million of those using fiberoptic connections in 2010.
To help companies deal with such explosive growth, the Alliance hopes to foster an ecosystem able to more quickly adopt and deploy new systems for managing increased traffic. Contributing companies also help provide education and application support to Network OEMs and service providers who are helping roll out these networks to businesses and home users.
There are several other groups pushing for future standards, though disagreements and poor organization have caused them to temporarily falter. For example, the IEEE Higher Speed Study Group last year proposed the 100 Gbps speed as a benchmark for the future, but several members of that group disagreed, saying 40 Gbps should be ideal for the immediate future. The disagreement caused a temporary stall that later led some industry experts to conclude a 40 Gbps network scalable up to 100 Gbps may be preferable.
To help draw attention to the organization, Alliance members will host a panel discussion during the NXTcomm 2008 conference in mid-June, along with Interop New York in September.
So it would take 1/20th second until they cap your monthly bandwidth?
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No, not really. This is 100 Gbps, not 100 GBps (notice the capitalization to distinguish bits from bytes), so you'll actually be able to enjoy these super fast speeds for ... hmmm .. let's see ... 400 full miliseconds before you reach your monthly cap. That's almost half a second! :)
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"In 2006, there were more than 229 million broadband subscribers online, with 60 million new users over a 12-month period when the statistics were collected. Research published on the Alliance Web site indicates there will be at least 350 million broadband subscribers in 2009, with almost 300 million of those using fiberoptic connections in 2010." And what does any of this have to do with wireless broadband, which is such a small market it puts no measurable strain on anyone's infrastructure? Email, SMS and WAP require very little bandwidth and Blackberry addicts aren't that interested in streaming video. No serious "mobile professional" needs broadband on some dinky device when theres bound to be a PC with internet everywhere they go. The only exceptions that come to mind would be professionals who spend a LOT of time in the air and the sales and service people working in those large, less populated territories down below (where dial-up and satellite - LOL! - are the only options). Meanwhile, the people who actually LIVE in these flyover regions would be overjoyed to have an affordable broadband connection. Xohm and its ilk are going to remain a tiny niche for years to come unless they do the one thing that terrestrial broadband won't - start catering to the less populated areas who are starving for something beyond low quality dial-up. Telecoms in Asia and eastern Europe are rolling out rural WiMax like crazy and they can't keep up with demand. But don't let that distract you, Sprint, just keep fighting for that tiny handful of "mobile profesional" dollars.
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