Telecom network operator Verizon announced that it will start the initial testing of NG-PON2 with equipment from Ericsson, which is partnering with Calix, and ADTRAN.
Verizon aims to utilize NG-PON2 (next generation passive optical network) equipment to provide increased speeds and functionality to customers on its Fios network, and will come with 40G of total capacity and up to 10G speeds per customer, both upstream and downstream, over a single fiber. The speed will be ten times that of current industry standards.
Verizon has plans to deploy a number of business services in 2017 using this technology, followed by residential services, in an attempt to meet market demands.
The tests on the features of NG-PON2 will include tuning performance, ability to carry residential and business services on the same platform, and interoperability and conformance testing to meet Verizon ONT specifications. It will be conducted at the Innovation Lab of Verizon in Waltham, MA, from this month onwards.
“When it comes to NG-PON2, ADTRAN and Ericsson / Calix have developed new designs and some novel, yet different, approaches that put them at the forefront of the industry,” said Vincent O’Byrne, director, Network planning at Verizon.
Verizon can expand the system capacity with the addition of wavelengths which can meet big data demands including the likes of ultra high definition video, virtual reality applications and cloud services.
Also, this advanced technology will not need any variations in the current underlying fiber optic infrastructure and hence is budget friendly. Due to multiple wavelengths available on applying this implementation, Verizon can improve on flexibility and resilience of its networks even when continuing to maintain the QoS.
ITU-T approved The NG-PON2 specifications in 2015, making the technology the future of the PON. Verizon completed the completed field testing of the same, last year. Also, the standardization work ended up in finalization of the technical standards in October 2015.
Calix will be providing its AXOS platform and has demonstrated advanced NG-PON2 features, such as technology co-existence and wavelength mobility. Recently, Calix successfully tested activation, provisioning over OMCI (ONU Management and Control Interface), and passing line-rate traffic using NG-PON2.
Michel Langlois, senior vice president of systems products at Calix, said: “Our AXOS NG-PON2 solution is built on software defined access (SDA) principles to be fast, always on, and simple, and aligns perfectly with Verizon’s Fios vision of the future.”
Verizon with $132 billion revenue in 2015 has 112.6 million retail connections. The company has reached a critical juncture in its RFP (Request For Proposals) process by tapping two companies to begin testing NG-PON2 (next generation passive optical network) equipment in Verizon’s Innovation Lab in Waltham, Mass.
Vina Krishnan
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