A video-ready access device (VRAD) provides digital subscriber line access and high-definition television programming to customers subscribed to IPTV services such as AT&T's U-verse, Bell Canada's Bell Fibe TV, Claro Puerto Rico's Claro TV, and Telus's Optik TV. VRAD equipment manufactured by Alcatel-Lucent can be configured to support between 48 and 864 lines per box. [1] The VRAD boxes are composed of circuit boards providing service, fed by fiber-optic cable.
There are 2 types of VRAD systems currently used by AT&T: FTTN (fiber to the node), and FTTP (fiber to the premises).
FTTN, widely used where copper facilities exist in established neighborhoods, uses an Alcatel-Lucent 7330 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) shelf, [2] which uses the existing copper wiring to customers' homes, leading to distance limitations from the VRAD cabinet to the customer's home. The 7330 ISAM is an internet protocol DSL access multiplexer that supports VDSL and ADSL protocols. [1]
The FTTP system uses an Alcatel-Lucent 7340 ISAM shelf, which is mostly used in areas such as new neighborhoods or large-scale developments where fiber can be run to the household, removing the distance limitations of copper. The 7340 then connects to a Primary Flexibility Point, which distributes service to homes in the neighborhood, via a dual strand fiber, which is then split into 32 customer fiber pairs. In FTTP systems, the fiber pairs are typically led into a customer's residence at the network interface device. In FTTD (fiber to the desk) systems, the fiber can continue to an equipment room or garage, then to a decoder box or residential gateway, then to the customer's TV, computer, and phone lines.
The VRAD typically connects upstream to an Alcatel-Lucent 7450 Ethernet service switch in the central office hub, then to the headend video hub office. [2]
VRADs required for U-verse are around 150 centimetres (59 in) wide, 122 centimetres (48 in) tall, and 66 centimetres (26 in) deep. Size and graffiti risk have drawn complaints from homeowners. [3] AT&T has sued competitor Comcast for Chicago ads against AT&T's "large and unsightly" VRADs. [4] Four VRADs have exploded due to faulty lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Avestor (now bankrupt), at least one explosion sending parts "fifty feet throughout the neighborhood." AT&T replaced all 17,000 Avestor batteries used in its VRADs with safer Alcatel-Lucent-designed SAFT NiCad batteries, [5] which have a 10-year life.
Bell Canada's Bell Fibe TV and Telus's Optik TV also use VRADs in their networks. Bell Canada uses the Alcatel-Lucent 7330 and Ikanos Communications IKNS ISAMs, and provides Internet service via either FTTN to 50 Mbit/s, or FTTH (fibre to the home) to 1.5 Gbit/s. [6]
Claro Puerto Rico is currently deploying VRADs to offer their IPTV and VDSL Internet service up to 50 Mbit/s. There are 2 types of VRAD systems currently used by Claro: FTTN (fiber to the node), and FTTP (fiber to the premises). It is unknown the equipment they are using.
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology, for Internet access.
Bell Canada is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec; as such, it was a founding member of the Stentor Alliance. It is also a CLEC for enterprise customers in the western provinces.
Bell Internet, originally and frequently still called Sympatico, is the residential Internet service provider (ISP) division of BCE Inc. As of May 3, 2012, Bell Internet had over 3 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec, making it the largest ISP in Canada.
Bell Satellite TV is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service across Canada. It launched on September 10, 1997. As of April 2017, Bell Satellite TV provides over 700 channels to over 1 million subscribers. Its major competitors include satellite service Shaw Direct, as well as various cable and communications companies across Canada.
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the source media continuously. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the content almost immediately. This is known as streaming media.
In telecommunications, cable Internet access, shortened to cable Internet, is a form of broadband internet access which uses the same infrastructure as cable television. Like digital subscriber line and fiber to the premises services, cable Internet access provides network edge connectivity from the Internet service provider to an end user. It is integrated into the cable television infrastructure analogously to DSL which uses the existing telephone network. Cable TV networks and telecommunications networks are the two predominant forms of residential Internet access. Recently, both have seen increased competition from fiber deployments, wireless, mobile networks and satellite internet access.
Fiber to the x or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic cables are able to carry much more data than copper cables, especially over long distances, copper telephone networks built in the 20th century are being replaced by fiber.
Embarq Corporation was the largest independent local exchange carrier in the United States, serving customers in 18 states and providing local, long-distance, high-speed data and wireless services to residential and business customers. It had been formerly the local telephone division (LTD) of Sprint Nextel until 2006, when it was spun off as an independent company. Embarq produced more than $6 billion in revenues annually, and had approximately 18,000 employees. It was based in Overland Park, Kansas.
Claro is the largest telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic and provides local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, as well as Internet and IPTV services, to approximately four million customers.
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a successor of AT&T's Western Electric and a holding company of Bell Labs.
Telus Optik TV is a product of Telus Communications, a subsidiary of Telus Corporation, that provides IPTV service in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec. The service offers over 630 digital channels, including more than 100 in HD. Despite its name, the service is available to both Fibre To The Node (FTTN) or Fibre To The Home (FTTH) clients, with FTTN implementations using telephone lines instead of fibre optics for a portion of the connection. Telus launched IPTV service in November 2005 to customers in select Alberta communities. As of February 2017, over 1 million customers are subscribed to the Optik TV. Major competitors include satellite services Shaw Direct and Bell Satellite TV, as well as various cable and communications companies across British Columbia and Alberta, such as Rogers, Novus and Eastlink.
A core router is a router designed to operate in the Internet backbone, or core. To fulfill this role, a router must be able to support multiple telecommunications interfaces of the highest speed in use in the core Internet and must be able to forward IP packets at full speed on all of them. It must also support the routing protocols being used in the core. A core router is distinct from an edge router: edge routers sit at the edge of a backbone network and connect to core routers.
2Wire, Inc., was a home networking Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) manufacturer that provided telecommunications companies with hardware, software, service platforms, and remote CPE management systems. The company was headquartered in San Jose, California, in the Silicon Valley. The company had employed approximately 1,600 employees globally, including 550 in R&D, sales and administration, 450 in customer care and 600 agency employees in five U.S. offices and an additional nine offices around the world by July 2010. The 2Wire HomePortal residential gateways were distributed by broadband service providers such as AT&T, Embarq, windstream and Qwest in the United States, Bell in Canada, Telmex in Mexico, BT Group in the United Kingdom, Telstra in Australia and SingTel in Singapore. In July 2010, Pace plc of the United Kingdom agreed to buy 2Wire for $475m (£307m).
Fibe is the brand name used by Bell Aliant for its suite of fiber to the home (FTTH) unified communication services, including Internet access, IPTV, and home telephone service, available in much of Atlantic Canada and previously in some regions of Ontario and Quebec. The Fibe service covers an entire urban area with a fibre optic network.
Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on September 13, 2010. It is also available in Manitoba and Atlantic Canada, where Fibe TV is re-packaged, being offered by Bell MTS and Bell Aliant with similar services and integrated with Bell Fibe TV.
G.fast is a digital subscriber line (DSL) protocol standard for local loops shorter than 500 meters, with performance targets between 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s, depending on loop length. High speeds are only achieved over very short loops. Although G.fast was initially designed for loops shorter than 250 meters, Sckipio in early 2015 demonstrated G.fast delivering speeds over 100 Mbit/s at nearly 500 meters and the EU announced a research project.
WWE Network is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel programmed by WWE and distributed by Rogers Sports & Media. Its programming consists entirely of the linear feed offered as part of the WWE Network video streaming service.
A Network Termination Device (NTD) is a customer-side network interface device used by the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN). Network termination devices provide multiple bridges for customers to access the NBN. There are different types of NTDs for the various connection technologies encompassed by NBN. All connection types except FTTN use NTDs on premises. Depending on the kind of link, NTDs typically provide two telephony and four data channels. An external power source is required, and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be used to maintain connection in power outages. FTTC requires power to be provided from the premises to the kerb.
Fibe is a brand used by Bell Canada to market internet-related services, including copper, fibre to the node (FTTN) and fibre to the home (FTTH) services.
AT&T Internet is an AT&T brand of broadband internet service. Previously, AT&T Internet was branded as U-verse Internet and bundled with U-verse TV, which was spun off into the newly independent DirecTV in 2021. AT&T Internet plans powered by fiber-optic cable use the AT&T Fiber brand.