Swisscom trials 50G PON

Oct. 12, 2020
Details of the technology that made up the 50G PON capabilities are scarce. That technology wasn't 100% proprietary, was it?

Swisscom says it has conducted a live trial of a prototype 50G PON line card. The card, which Swisscom believes will be ready for production deployments in two years, supported 50G downstream and 25G upstream. The service provider did not say which company supplied the line card, but evidence in a video posted on the Swisscom site suggests it came from Huawei.

Transmission rates of 50G could benefit two applications, Swisscom believes. “In my opinion, PON with 50 Gbps will be an option for the business customer market initially,” commented Markus Reber, head of Swisscom Networks, via a write up of the trial posted on Swisscom’s site. “Progressive network virtualization will enable companies to use the bandwidth they need on a flexible basis in line with their requirements, for instance. In contrast, the 10 Gbps already available in the residential mass market should be more than enough for several years to come. However, the 50-Gbps option offers even more opportunities, as it allows the existing fiber-optic infrastructure to be deployed in a more versatile way. As an example, the technology will soon facilitate access to mobile communication masts, particularly for 5G, as the same network can be used as the one already built to connect households. With a transmission speed of 50 Gbps, there is ample bandwidth available.”

Huawei is one of Swisscom's principal suppliers of FTTx technology (see, for example, "Swisscom chooses Huawei as supplier for its FTTS expansion") and appears to have supported the trial. The video shows a map of the trial topology; the map references Huawei’s MA5800 optical line terminal. Later, René Schumacher, solution architect at Swisscom, discusses the trial while standing in front of a bay of equipment labeled “Huawei.” Swisscom says it is the first operator to trial 50G PON in a live environment.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.

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