Belgian service provider Proximus, alongside broadband technology partner Nokia, turned up a 25G PON link at a ceremony held yesterday in Antwerp and immediately claimed it now possessed the world’s fastest broadband network. While one link may not make a network, Proximus committed to deployment of 25G PON line cards in Antwerp and across Belgium to support 5G densification and business services delivery.
The symmetrical 25-Gbps PON link ran between the Havenhuis building in the Port of Antwerp and a Proximus central office in the middle of the city. The demonstration showed an actual throughput of approximately 21 Gbps, which Proximus and Nokia stated was due to “overhead”; such overhead leads to the common use of the phrase “up to” when service providers describe their broadband speed tiers.
Proximus has set a goal of passing 70% of Belgian customer locations (approximately 4.2 million sites) with fiber by 2028 and plans to expand its next-generation fiber broadband footprint by 10% annually during that time. The 25G PON capable line cards from Nokia will be deployed as part of this roll-out, although when additional 25-Gbps links will be turned up isn’t clear. Geert Heyninck, vice president, broadband networks at Nokia, allowed that while his company has sent 25G PON capable cards to scores of customers, the robustness of the technology has yet to be fully proven in a mass deployment. He estimated 25G PON would achieve such "maturity" in 2022. Proximus CTO Geert Standaert seemed to target a similar timeframe in suggesting that 25G PON will increase in importance as the service provider’s 5G fiber densification efforts hit their stride next year.
Nokia unveiled its 25G PON technology last November just ahead of the founding of the 25GS-PON Multisource Agreement (see “Nokia offers symmetrical 25G PON via ISAM FX” and “Operators, vendors combine to create 25GS-PON MSA”).
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