FTTHCon: Calix lets carriers hedge bets on GPON

NASHVILLE -- Calix introduced two new products today aimed at extending the reach of its access gear and addressing a rapidly growing demand among carriers for a future migration path from gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) to active Ethernet technology.

Calix’s new 700GX family of optical network terminals (ONTs) – the customer premises gear in fiber-to-the-premises networks – allows carriers to transition from GPON to point-to-point symmetrical Ethernet without having to replace the ONTs, which automatically detect the change in technology themselves. Carriers are increasingly asking for this ability to hedge their bets, Calix said, and they are increasingly deploying fiber directly from the central office to the home (with no passive splitters in the field), leaving room for that potential future migration.

“We’re seeing customers design fiber home runs in the majority of their service deployments,” said Geoff Burke, Calix’s director of field marketing. “That has rapidly changed over the last year or so.”

Part of the reason for that change is a change in the original underlying premise for field splitters. Years ago, telcos had hoped to minimize fiber costs by putting splitters out in the field, shortening per-home fiber links. But as widespread deployment has lowered the cost of fiber, more carriers are running fiber directly between the home and splitters in the central office. And that makes it easier for them to one day upgrade to point-to-point Ethernet connections.

Calix’s move follows a similar one by Zhone Technologies earlier this year.

Here at the Fiber to the Home conference, Calix also introduced a new module for its GPON platform that extends its reach from 20 kilometers to 33 km.

“As you get out to the hairy edge, you may need to drop your split to 1 by 16 or 1 by 8,” Burke said. “That’s the only planning difference you’d make.”