What choice should cable operators make in GPON vs. EPON? - 1 views
started by kbojezhang44 on 30 Mar 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 30 Mar 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 30 Mar 20
started by kbojezhang44 on 30 Mar 20
While GPON currently dominates the next generation PON market, some tier-one cable operators and international operators have yet to decide on a technology route that could upend this trend and push scale toward EPON.
For years, two industry bodies have directed each version of the passive optical network iteration to use the same wavelength, so that traditional networks can use the same passive equipment, such as spectrometers and filters. It is understood that while the international telecommunication union (ITU) developed GPON, the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) developed the EPON standard. In terms of 10G PON, both the ITU and IEEE standard bodies use the same wavelength for xgs-pon and 10G PON.
According to a report by market research firm ResearchAndMarkets in October 2019, the compound annual growth rate of the global total PON market will reach nearly 21% from 2019 to 2025, and the sales volume will increase by about 28 billion us dollars. GPON alone could grow 21.6 percent over that period, the researchers note, and by 2025 sales could exceed $18.7 billion.
"I don't think the growth in GPON between 2008 and 2010 is surprising. The ITU has picked up the pace. Jess Beihoffer, ADTRAN sales director, said, "we're seeing a lot of momentum in GPON in this industry, and it's continuing."
But researchers say EPON is popular in Asia and represents a huge market in China alone. In the United States, many tier 1 cable operators have not yet decided which PON path to choose, Jess Beihoffer said.
In fact, research shows that cable operators are deploying both EPON and GPON, but not as fast as telecom operators. According to the Cable's Fiber Outlook Report, a collaboration between Light Reading and Heavy Reading and ISCTE/ISBE, Cable operators expect that by 2024, 30 per cent of subscribers will connect via FTTH/FTTP, 10 gigabytes of EPON will support nearly 22 per cent of connections, and xgs-pon will support 13 per cent.
Many operators will also deploy DOCSIS and distributed access architecture (DAA), according to Light Reading. Some operators are aware of the need for PON, but have not yet decided whether to use GPON or EPON. For example, nearly 54 per cent of cable operators' executives said the launch of new products, such as hosted services or GPON/EPON, would be a catalyst to upgrade or replace fibre on their networks.
Data traffic, especially symmetrical traffic, continues to surge globally, and the need for higher bandwidth applications requires operators to upgrade their network infrastructure. According to the study, the resistance is installation and operating costs and finding employees familiar with the technology and solutions from suppliers such as ADTRAN, Calix, Ericsson, huawei, nokia and zte.
"The major issue we're seeing with EPON versus GPON has to do with the big carriers that haven't invested a lot of money in FTTP or FTTH deployments, and they're going to step back and really look at where the economy and global technology is going." Beihoffer added, "at the same time CableLabs drove the creation of the oem-extended DOCSIS configuration specification in EPON, enabling them to extend existing backend solutions, so the impact of EPON deployment was minimal. I've seen them start to step back and try to make sure it's going to be a successful strategy before they invest a lot of money, and then move on. I think both technologies are very appropriate, and there is no one who is good or bad."
GPON has a large deployment base among smaller Fiber only operators in the U.S. and some European operators. According to Ovum, EPON itself has a following in Europe and is attractive in Asia.
Ng-pon2, the next-generation GPON standard, is widely praised for its technical capabilities but criticized for its reliance on expensive tunable optical components. Verizon is deploying the ng-pon2 with Calix's equipment, a move some carriers hope will accelerate price declines. Others, however, say that even if Verizon's deployment is substantial, it will not force the price down enough to make large-scale adoption of the ng-pon2 possible.