Calix completes OSI buy, unveils GPON ONT

Calix is wasting no time getting into the Gigabit passive optical network (GPON) market. On the same day that it announced the closing of it acquisition of Optical Solutions Inc., the company also unveiled a new set of 2.4 Gb/s GPON optical network terminals (ONTs).

The new 700 series of ONTs, which is a somewhat like an updated version of the OSI 500 series, is being marketed as a product that addresses increasing concerns over operational costs of fiber-to-the-premises networks. Designed to let carriers start with 622 Mb/s per household, the ONTs can migrate up to 2.4 Gb/s without the need for a truck roll because of a new auto-detect capability.

“We tried to create a vision for our engineering team that we create an install-once-and-never-go-back ONT,” said Steve Buska, customer premises market lead for Calix. “The ONT installation is a major portion of the cost. It’s not just putting the ONT on the side of the house and turning up service. Cost reductions around the ONT are critical. The CO portion is a relatively small portion because it’s easy to contain.”

The combined company, which claims a total of 340 customers representing about 23 million access lines, is banking on its experience as it moves up to larger and larger carriers, according to Kevin Walsh, vice president of marketing for Calix. Part of the experience has been getting live data on the operational costs of FTTP networks.

“At some point all of the BPON in the ground is going to have to be upgraded to GPON,” Walsh said. “If the carrier can do that without visiting the customer, that has an enormous impact.”

Just as significant, the new unit also includes optional support for integrated Home Phoneline Network Alliance. HPNA, which uses existing in-home copper pairs to connect multiple devices at up to 240 Mb/s, has been getting a surge of interest in the past several months. Calix opted to incorporate it because there is history behind it, though the company is quick to say it also is supporting coax-based options.

“We selected HPNA because it was the most easily deployed standard today,” Buska said. “We’re definitely agnostic to what the inside wiring solution is.”

Among the other more significant features of the 700 ONT is inclusion of an integrated access device that can provide connectivity to voice-over-IP service providers. Additionally, the unit supports both IP and RF delivering of video.

“It gives the service provider flexibility on how they want to install the service,” Buska said.