Legacy copper footprints have been used for transmitting data, voice, or other signals over the years. While legacy copper footprints may still be in use in some areas, they are generally considered less capable and versatile compared to the modern alternatives.
Legacy copper footprints also have limited bandwidth, are susceptible to signal loss and interference, have distance limitations for high-speed data transmission, are vulnerable to environmental factors, consume more power and are limited in future-proofing capabilities.
These limitations make modern alternatives (such as fiber optics) a more attractive choice, as they offer higher data speeds, greater reliability and the ability to meet the increasing demands of contemporary applications and services, making them a preferred option in telecommunications and networking.
AT&T (News - Alert) is in the process of upgrading legacy copper infrastructure by adding 296,000 new fiber customers to its network, which now covers 24 million locations, according to its recent quarterly earnings report. The company is on track to expand that number to 30 million by 2025.
As it transitions from copper to modern IP technology, AT&T is utilizing Ribbon Communications' Neptune IP Router, which is now live within the AT&T network.
Ribbon offers communication software (as well as IP and optical networking solutions) to customers worldwide, including service providers and enterprises. Among the company's quarterly revenue of $203 million, the IP Optical Networks division contributed $87 million.
Ribbon’s Neptune IP Router is a family of routers that support various routing technologies, services and applications. For example, the NPT 2300 is a high-capacity aggregation router that can handle 2.4 Tbps of switching capacity and support Ethernet, Layer 2 VPN, EVPN, Layer 3 VPN, CES (News - Alert), and XGS-PON services. The NPT 1100 is a compact access router that can handle 300 Gbps of switching capacity and support IP/MPLS, MPLS-TP, segment routing and FlexE routing technologies.
The Neptune IP Router is powered by Ribbon’s IP Wave rNOS, which is an operating system optimized for the NPT XDR and AR WAN router portfolio. It provides advanced fault management, performance monitoring and security features.
"We have been working with AT&T on a number of use cases that leverage the Neptune platform to replace older routing platforms and to transition TDM and copper networks to modern IP technology," said Ribbon CEO Bruce McClelland. "This will enable AT&T to significantly reduce costs and simplify their network, eliminating legacy transport networks and wiring centers over time while maintaining existing residential and business service offerings as well as helping to achieve environmental sustainability goals."
Edited by
Alex Passett
