Nokia accelerates multi-Gig PON fibre broadband services

Nokia has launched a 25G passive optical network (PON) high-density line card designed to deliver mass-market, multi-gig, residential broadband services and a co-existing offering that allows 10G, 25G and 50G PON technologies to run on the same fibre broadband network.

The 16-port line card product provides operators with a cost-effective way to deliver true 10Gb/s broadband services in a cost-effective way. Based on the Quillion chipset, it supports GPON, XGS-PON, 25G PON and multi-PON variants like GPON + XGS-PON, XGS+25G PON and GPON + XGS + 25G PON on every port, offering flexibility to evolve with market demands.

The result of having 10G+ connectivity, said the comms tech provider, is that mass amounts of data can be downloaded in minutes versus hours with 1 Gigabit speeds; business-critical applications in the cloud accessed almost instantaneously; and the likes of Wi-Fi 7 services effectively backhauled.

The new line cards can be paired with Nokia’s fibre modems to provide an end-to-end service for mass-market 25G PON enterprise service deployments. Some 20 operators around the world – including Google Fiber and Hong Kong Broadband – are using Nokia 25G PON technology to address demand for faster broadband speeds.

“Being able to cost-effectively scale multi-gigabit and true 10Gbps services across their entire residential subscriber base is critical for service providers in increasingly competitive broadband markets,” said Jeff Heynen, vice-president of broadband access and home networking at analyst Dell’Oro Group. “The ability to offer the highest speeds and handle high-peak traffic demands with the lowest latency and jitter is how providers will stand out from the crowd and keep subscribers happy.”

Veronica Bloodworth, executive vice-president and chief network officer at operator Frontier, said: “Fibre is a strategic asset that ensures our network can scale and adapt to changing customer needs. The ability to seamlessly upgrade from GPON to XGS-PON and now 25G PON, along with our unique coexistence technology, reflects our commitment to staying ahead of the curve.

“25G PON strengthens our competitive position, enabling us to deliver high-speed, future-proof connectivity for businesses, and an expanding base of residential customers who increasingly depend on fast, reliable broadband for cloud services, gaming and immersive digital experiences.”

Meanwhile, the co-existence network element service is designed to protect existing infrastructure investments while offering enterprises flexibility to use different technology flavours to gain optimised multi-gigabit services. Built for high-speed service roll-outs, it supports dense deployments, enabling operators to meet the rising demand for ultra-fast, reliable broadband connectivity.

The co-existence network element allows operators to add different PON technologies running on different wavelengths to a single fibre, without disturbing the existing services. A key intended benefit is to deliver a diverse set of business needs without replacing infrastructure.

“Moving to next-generation PON is a competitive advantage for operators seeking to offer differentiated services,” said Geert Heyninck, general manager of broadband networks at Nokia.

“But what that evolution path looks like will vary and largely depend on their individual business needs,” he said. “Our co-existence solution allows operators to support all flavours of PON on a single fibre, providing the flexibility to pick and choose the technology that is best suited to meet the unique demands of their residential and enterprise customers, both today and for years to come.”