Broadband Communities

MAR-APR 2017

BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.

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70 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | MARCH/APRIL 2017 TECHNOLOGY The Network of the Future Is Already Here The next generation of FTTH networks is already being deployed. NG-PON makes possible amazing speed, symmetrical service and the convergence of residential, business and mobile networks. By Ana Pesovic / Nokia F iber optic networks are being deployed worldwide at an ever-increasing rate, offering huge advantages over the copper cables used in telecommunications networks for the past century. e greatest advantage of fiber is its almost unlimited bandwidth potential, which presents operators with service delivery possibilities that would have been unimaginable at the turn of the century. e key to unlocking this potential lies in delivering a solution that incorporates the best elements of the many standards defined for fiber networks. is universal next-generation passive optical network combines the various technologies into a single platform through common hardware, providing the long-term value that operators crave. With such a solution, operators avoid locking themselves into options that may turn out not to be best for them in a year or two but can still deliver high-end services and operations at the best possible price point. Next-generation PON is all about providing operators the ability to offer high-speed, symmetrical services that make the most of fiber's potential. In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in the demand for ultra- fast broadband speeds in both the business and residential markets. Gigabit speeds that were once a luxury are now becoming an in-demand commodity, and operators face a market that is constantly and quickly evolving. NEW HABITS DIE HARD Until recently, residential internet use was almost solely about downloading content in one form or another. People used their bandwidth to catch up on news stories, visit message boards and watch the occasional video clip. Only rarely did they upload data and put content back onto the network. During these times, operators focused almost completely on giving their customers the best possible download speeds, creating asymmetrical networks. By 2017, several key evolutions in customer behavior changed the way people use the internet. Users store thousands of images in the cloud, make video calls to the other side of the world and upload videos to YouTube or other forms of social media. ough data usage patterns are naturally still skewed toward downloading, there has been a perceivable increase in uploads. If you were to view data usage over a week as a map, downstream traffic would still be higher than upstream, but upstream traffic would have occasional high peaks where, for example, a batch of photos were uploaded to social media or a video call took place. Network operators have long provisioned for bursty download demands, but they must now account for these changes in customer behavior and provide a network that can cope with the peaks in uploads.

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