Frontier trials 25G PON, plans deployment

Dec. 20, 2021

Further trials are expected in advance of commercial deployment in the second half of this year.

Nokia and Frontier Communications say they have collaborated on a trial of the former’s 25G PON technology. Further trials are expected in advance of commercial deployment in the second half of this year.

The two companies tout the trial as the first for 25G PON in the U.S. While Hotwire Communications has announced the first deployments of 25G PON in the U.S. (see “Hotwire Communications deploys Nokia 25G PON technology”), a source at Nokia stated that the trial with Frontier preceded its work with Hotwire.

In addition to increasing the capacity of its existing networks, Frontier’s use of 25G PON will increase cost-efficiency when adding new customer to its network as well as supporting the sale of capacity to 5G mobile network operators, the companies add.

“Successfully completing the first U.S. trial of the country’s fastest fiber broadband is a critical step in offering a competitive advantage for Frontier and our customers. We already have one of the largest XGS-PON networks in the country and this technology will ensure our network will continue to offer the fastest, most technologically advanced broadband service available,” commented Veronica Bloodworth, Frontier’s chief network officer. “Our consumer and enterprise customers have an ever-increasing need for bandwidth. 25G PON will give them the confidence Frontier can scale with their needs as bandwidth applications like holographic calls and augmented reality become commonplace.”

“The beauty of fiber is its almost limitless capacity,” added Sandy Motley, president, fixed networks, at Nokia. “We’re proud to support Frontier as it makes this transition to 2.5X higher speeds simply by the addition of new optics. The key to making this work is Nokia’s Quillion chip, which provides a solution that supports three generations of PON technology from a single platform already in the Frontier network.”

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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.