Development of FTTH-PON technologies: Market reality check 2010–2014

Abstract

While new FTTH-PON technologies: 10 Gb/s (XG-PON1, 10G EPON), 40 Gb/s (NG-PON2) and WDM-PON are being developed and standardized, deployments remain limited to older GPON and EPON systems. This is because 10 Gb/s equipment is considerably more expensive, while access network segment is price-sensitive and heavily regulated. Large scale adoption of 10 Gb/s systems may ultimately happen, but for now manufacturers must find other applications like backhaul for FTTB and LTE networks. 10G EPON systems are well suited for both roles, but alternative markets are relatively small.