Verizon tests NG-PON2 FTTP network ahead of RFP

Verizon (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) says it has successfully completed a field test of NG-PON2 technology on its fiber to the premises (FTTP) network. The trial used equipment from Cisco and PT Inovação. The service provider says it plans to issue an RFP later this year to buy NG-PON2 gear.

NG-PON2 uses a time- and wavelength-division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) approach that combines multiple wavelengths over the same fiber-optic broadband access infrastructure. In the trial, Verizon installed an NG-PON2 optical line terminal (OLT) capable of supporting four wavelengths in a central office in Framingham, MA. The wavelengths supported 10 Gbps downstream and 2.5 Gbps upstream, but Verizon anticipates the availability of symmetrical 10-Gbps support in the future.

Verizon linked the NG-PON2 OLT to a FiOS customer three miles away, as well as to a nearby business location. The link also carried standard GPON traffic to demonstrate the ability to support both PON technology generations over the same fiber.

In addition to service provision, the field test also demonstrated fault recovery. A fault in the central office equipment was simulated and the customer's ONT autonomously tuned to another wavelength, restoring its own 10G service in seconds, Verizon says.

Verizon sees NG-PON2 as a way to support business services such as switched Ethernet initially. However, it also can be used to support multi-gigabit-speed Internet access services for FiOS customers, particularly as 4K video and the Internet of Things drives residential broadband requirements higher.

The trial clears the way for issuance of the RFP later this year for purchase of NG-PON2 hardware and software. Besides Cisco and PT Inovação, other PON systems providers known to be active in NG-PON2 include ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, Calix, Huawei, and ZTE.

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