“GPON may be good enough, but you really have to think about 2026,” recommends Teresa McGaughey, AVP, Access and Field Marketing for Calix. Speaking at the end of the Broadband Forum’s BASe Event at Fiber Connect 22, McGaughey indicates that the steady growth in bandwidth will cause peak usage demand challenges for GPON around that timeframe. XGS-PON, with its peak transmission rates of symmetric,  approximately 10 Gbps, solves the upcoming peak demand issue.

OMDIA’s Chief Analyst, Broadband Access Intelligence, Service, Julie Kunstler, adds that, generally, new builds and new operators are bypassing GPON and incorporating XGS-PON as their baseline network. The implication is that the operators rolling out XGS-PON will not need to roll out a truck to replace an ONT in two to five years to meet demand. Given that the cost of the labor-intensive truck roll is sure to increase more than the price drop of XGS-PON, the investment in future bandwidth via XGS-PON makes economic sense.

At the same time, XGS-PON allows operators to serve demand from high bandwidth customers using one network. This one network strategy allows operators to cost-effectively pursue business customers. XGS-PON gives the service providers, in the words of McGaughey, “the flexibility to do what they need to do.”

Interview Highlights

00:23 – OMDIA’s data indicates tremendous uptake in PON deployments, particularly ten gig-capable PON. It is a great time to be a PON vendor and, Kunstler predicts it will be like this for the next 7 to 10 years.

01:58 – McGaughey points out that usage data is invaluable for operators to determine where, when, and how to invest in their respective networks.

03:41 – Kunstler argues that deploying XGS-PON today future-proofs the network for many years to come.

04:56 – McGaughey and Kunstler indicate that the integration of ONT and Residential Gateway is service provider-dependent. McGaughey says that newer operators tend to provide integrated capabilities because of simplicity of operation and ease of upgrade.

06:33 – One network allows for more service offerings to a more diverse set of customers.