ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) says it will supply XGS-PON fiber to the home (FTTH) technology to Zzoomm, an alternative broadband carrier in the UK looking to make its mark via 10-Gbps FTTH service provision. Such emerging broadband providers may give 10G PON technology adoption a major push, according to ADTRAN sources.
Zzoomm recently launched as an alternative to such providers as BT as well as those served by the FTTH infrastructure deployed and managed by Openreach. According to ADTRAN, only 2 million of the UK’s 30 million homes and businesses have access to fiber. While the first wave of alternative FTTH-based network operators, such as CityFibre and Hyperoptic, have focused on gigabit broadband service provision, Zzoomm is going straight to 10 Gbps.
“This is all about future proofing -- 10 years ago, 1 gigabit was considered sufficient to meet future speed needs but this is no longer the case,” commented Matthew Hare, Zzoomm chief executive. “Working with ADTRAN, we are building out a robust infrastructure that’s fit for the coming decades. Zzoomm will deliver 10-gigabit speeds to homes and businesses – both downloads and uploads – in towns and suburbs, some 400 to 500 times faster than the average speeds across copper infrastructure.”
ADTRAN says that Zzoomm will begin construction of its network this summer and hopes to connect 1 million communities previously unserved by fiber in the next five years. Oxford-based Zzoomm plans to establish regional offices to drive infrastructure planning and build at a local level in its target U.K. towns and suburban areas.
The broadband systems supplier is seeing increasing adoption of 10G PON by alternative and rural carriers on both sides of the Atlantic (see, for example, “Lumos Networks to deploy ADTRAN 10G PON for business services delivery” in the U.S.). Speaking at OFC 2019 in San Diego last week, Robert Conger, CTO, Americas and head of portfolio strategy at ADTRAN, predicted this momentum will continue as lower-cost 10G PON optical line terminals (ONTs) reach the market later this year. He also said that regulatory changes in Europe have created a fertile ground for new FTTH-friendly startups, with Zzoomm as an example. Conger predicted that this year’s uptick in 10G PON adoption will accelerate next year.
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