If it seems like 10G PON has been around for years, it actually has. The first 10G PON standard, 10G EPON, was approved over 10 years ago in 2009. During this same period, growth of GPON continued, but that growth has leveled off in recent years.
However, the stars have aligned in 2019 to bring the purpose of 10G PON into focus. The key drivers are new and exciting applications like Google’s Stadia Cloud and Facebook’s Oculus VR where you can watch your favorite sports teams at home, while feeling like you are in the front row of their stadium. These applications are priced in a range that makes them widely accessible and attractive.
While the bandwidth requirements from these applications are not driving the need for most subscribers to upgrade to 10G services, the aggregate subscriber bandwidth across 2.5G GPON is driving a need for change. Many Calix are identifying their high-bandwidth users with Calix Marketing Cloud and moving them to 10G PON. This is reducing the overall strain on their GPON networks while ensuring high-bandwidth users have an excellent experience.
Since the initial 10G EPON standard 10 years ago, several more standards have been approved. Looking ahead to 2020, it appears that the market is aligned with the 10G symmetrical XGS-PON and 10G multi-wavelength NG-PON2 standards based on the latest reports from Ovum. But this choice has many asking, “Which 10G PON should I deploy?”
Later this month, in the first webinar of our new Network Edge Innovation Tech Talk Series, we’ll explore that question further and get into more detail on how you can easily add 10G PON to your new or existing network. We’ll also look at how to ensure your network is not only ready for 10G PON, but for what’s next in PON. Register here.