Australian incumbent Telstra and Ericsson have completed a trial of 1Tbps transmission over Telstra's fiber network.

 

The companies revealed they had successfully transmitted at 1Tbps over a fiber link between Sydney and Melbourne.

 

"The trial has proven that our existing optical cable plant can support Tbps channels along with 40Gbps and 100Gbps channels simultaneously on the same fiber,” Ericsson head of optical R&D Alessandro Pane said.

 

The trial used Ericsson's terabit solution, including a packet optical transport platform (POTP) and a 1Tbps line card.

 

Separately, Australia's NBN Co – the state-run company overseeing the rollout of the FTTH-based National Broadband Network – has awarded a fresh nine-figure rollout contract.

 

NBN Co said it has handed Visionsteam - a Leighton Holdings subsidiary focused on telecom construction projects - a two-year, A$334 million ($346.2 million) deal.

 

The contract covers rollout activity in the states of Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. NBN Co has previously contracted Visionstream for deployment work in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.

 

But the future of the ambitious, multibillion dollar NBN project is in doubt, with local media widely predicting that the Labor government behind the initiative will lose the next election in September. The political opposition instead favors a cheaper copper-FTTN hybrid approach.

 

The future of deals like Visionstream's if a change of guard does take place is unclear, although   any incoming government may be hard-pressed to roll back existing contracts.