OREANDA-NEWS. April 1, 2016. Now that AT&T has committed itself to wiring more than 12 million US homes for 1Gbit/s service over the next few years, company executives are targeting network technology options to bring higher broadband speeds to other customers.

One option that's being strongly considered by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) officials is the new G.fast standard that telcos and vendors around the world are now starting to explore for delivering higher broadband speeds without the need for pricey new fiber networks. G.fast is a technology that can significantly boost the broadband speeds that can be delivered over existing copper lines, albeit over short distances (within 100 meters or 300 feet).

In an interview with Light Reading, Bill Smith, President of AT&T Technology Operations, said his engineering team is now testing G.fast in the labs to see if it makes the grade. While no field tests have been conducted yet, he's optimistic that the new technology will provide AT&T with a complementary way of bringing speeds as high as 300 Mbit/s to its broadband subscribers without having to lay fresh fiber. Right now, AT&T is relying on GPON technology over its all-fiber GigaPower network to deliver speeds as high as 1 Gbit/s to broadband customers.

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