The ICT2020 Project aimed at optimizing the communication infrastructures of the home of the future concludes

This project, in which Hispasat, Fenitel, Televés, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Promax participate, aims to achieve greater integration and efficiency of the telecommunications infrastructures of buildings and their adaptation to the demand for greater volumes of information.

The ICT 2020 innovation project, led by Hispasat, has just concluded successfully with a triple demonstration that took place at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. In the final meeting that closed the project, the important and immediate practical applications that its conclusions could generate in the field of the home of the future were highlighted.

The project, started in 2011, has worked on the optimization of Common Telecommunications Infrastructures (ICT), those whose deployment is mandatory in residential and office buildings, in order to take advantage of existing resources for new developments in telecommunications technologies and services and improve their use to support greater volumes of information. Until recently, these infrastructures included ADSL, cable networks and coaxials for DTT and satellite; Now we must also integrate fiber optics and look for solutions to the demand for bandwidth, which grows hand in hand with new audiovisual formats and the ever-increasing data traffic, to optimize the distribution of all telecommunications services in the home.

Hispasat, in addition to coordinating the project and its demonstrations, has been in charge of studying the integration in these networks of triple play satellite services (fixed and mobile voice and data services plus TV) with the use of optical fiber and the conditions for their correct reception in the ICT, as well as applying high-bandwidth satellite transmission systems to these infrastructures.

The demonstrations presented at the conclusion of the ICT 2020 project consisted of video distribution via satellite and DTT in various formats (SD, HD, UHD, 3D and HbbTV) through the ICT fiber optics; a distribution of satellite data through the ICT's optical fiber, in which Hispasat acted as a conventional broadband services operator and, finally, a distribution of WIFI services through coaxial cable, which allows expanding WIFI coverage in the building in which it is deployed. Thanks to these three demonstrations, Hispasat has verified the viability of distributing triple play satellite services through these common infrastructures with high quality and reliability.

The ICT 2020 project is framed within the principles of the European Union's “Horizon 2020” research framework program, which seeks to address the main social challenges of the future, promote industrial leadership in Europe and reinforce the excellence of its scientific base. In addition, it is included in the Avanza 2 Plan of the Ministry of Industry, and has also had the participation of various companies and entities in the sector, such as Fenitel, Televés, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Promax.