Nokia wants to let customers choose from 25G, 50G and 100G PON

　　There has been some disagreement in the industry about what generation of optical technology to focus on next. With 10G (or XGS) PON being rolled out already, it's up for discussion whether to focus on 25G PON or skip it and move straight onto 50G PON.

　　With Nokia being a proponent of 25G PON, it may come as a surprise that its head of big web and cloud infrastructure, Paul Alexander, who was also speaking as acting CEO for UK and Ireland after Phil Siveter left to lead Thales, highlighted the company's work on 50G and 100G PON during the Connected Britain event in London in September.

　　Yet, in an interview with Light Reading, Alexander said the company's position on 25G PON hadn't changed. He added that Nokia's goal is to provide customers with options.

　　"There's been quite a bit of discussion about 25 but then that was a proven available technology. But through the trials that we've started to do […] with NBN in Australia, they're trialling 25, 50 and 100G PON in terms of its capability to support other applications, rather than just fixed or consumer broadband."

　　The April NBN trial showed co-existence of several broadband technologies, including XGSPON, 25GS PON, 50G PON and 100G PON. Alexander noted on stage that the companies worked on simultaneous use of three technologies – XGS, 25GS and 50G PON, as well as XGS, 25GS and 100G PON.

　　Alexander added that now it's time to think about how to use the technologies. "Certainly, when you start talking north of 25 going to 50 and 100, we're talking about the wholesale networks, probably, and we're talking about enterprise-type applications." However, at the moment most customers will be happy with a gigabyte, let alone 10GB, he said.

　　Previously, those in favor of going straight to 50G PON argued that by the time there would be demand for 25G PON, 50G PON costs would drop and render it unnecessary. Asked about whether 50G PON would still come at a premium, Alexander replied: "I don't think we're quite there on pricing and commercials at this point." Ultimately, he thinks there should be some differential pricing, although specific prices will depend on customer conversations.

　　Mixed reactions

　　Meanwhile, there seems to be mixed reaction among operators to 25G PON. Google Fiber has said it would deploy 25G PON as part of plans to offer speeds of over 20 Gig in every city by the end of 2024, while also already testing 50G PON. Telefónica, meanwhile, announced a 25G PON trial earlier this year.

　　Speaking about Orange's plans on stage during the recent Network X event in Paris, Orange's CTIO Arnaud Vamparys said that while it is deploying XGS PON, the operator is also testing 50G PON to ensure a natural evolution on the network.

　　In all, there is still no consensus on whether 25G PON should be part of the picture, but it appears clearer 50G PON definitely will be.