The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) has passed the G.fast broadband standard. It enables transfer rates of between 150 MB/s and around 1 GB/s and is the successor of VDSL2. Because G.fast is designed for standard copper telephone lines, the standard allows a good value alternative to FTTH (Fibre to the Home) glass fibre technology. At the same time, though, it can be combined with FTTB (Fibre to the Building) and FTTdp (Fibre to the Distribution Point).
However, there is a restriction: as G.fast uses very high frequencies, the transfers are prone to interference. This means that the technology is only suitable for short distances up to around 250m. Therefore, in many areas the service providers will have to install additional distributors, which reverses part of the costs saved. Many analysts have thus come to the conclusion that G.fast will not replace other xDSL technologies like VDSL2, but will simply be used as a supplement. Deutsche Telekom and other providers have already announced practical tests.