Entrisphere steps into GPON market

Entrisphere this week will unveil its entry in the Gigabit passive optical network market with a platform targeted directly at the North American market.

Based on the company's flagship BLM 1500 BPON access platform, the new GPON solution includes new optical line terminals (OLTs), optical network terminals (ONTs)/optical network units (ONUs) and management systems. Like other access vendors, the company also is integrating copper-based technologies as part of the offering, recognizing that many telcos will start with fiber to the curb (FTTC) and later push fiber to the premises. However, according to Don McCullough, director of product marketing for Entrisphere, the need to provide huge bandwidth to the home is real and only increasing.

“We're seeing requirements to go all the way to a Gigabit [per home],” he said. “If you look at how fast high-definition TVs are selling, it's not long before the home is going to have multiple HD feeds to it. Whatever you gain in bandwidth compression [with MPEG-4], you lose in customers wanting more.”

Among the more unique elements of the new platform is a new ONU designed specifically for the multi-tenant/multi-dwelling unit (MTU/MDU) segment. The T500 Series, which also encompasses single-family ONUs, is a fiber-fed remote device that connects to short copper loops in environments where laying fiber is a physical or economic challenge. In markets where existing FTTC deployments are not competitive, the T5 ONUs can be retrofitted into existing FTTC pedestals to deliver service over existing drops to the home.

“For MTU/MDU deployments, it's a very attractive piece of equipment,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV at Infonetics Research. “It gives the service provider the ability to provide legacy services with legacy infrastructure and not a major redeployment.”

Like Entrisphere's BLM line, the new GPON play will likely find a home in larger carriers, though not necessarily at the Bell-company level. “You've got the larger [independents] and ILECs that are up for grabs as well as the guys like Fairpoint that are buying up the mom-and-pop shops,” Heynen said. “There's still business to be won from Sprint local, and there's still plenty of carriers out there even if they don't get a piece of the RBOCs.”