Alcatel-Lucent expands fiber technology portfolio for operators to scale next generation fiber deployments in line with gigabit demand

Broadband World Forum 2015, London, United Kingdom, October 20, 2015

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is to extend the ability of operators to expand their ultra-broadband services to households and businesses, as well as support their need for mobile backhaul services, with the launch of new products and portfolio enhancements based on TWDM-PON (Time and Wavelength Division Multiplexed Passive Optical Networks) technology.

With high-capacity applications such as 4K and 8K TV, next-generation backhaul and ultra broadband access coming into the foreground, demand for 1 Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) and even 10Gbps services is quickly expanding beyond enterprises and into the residential market. To meet demand, operators are turning to the highly-flexible TWDM-PON technology, which can provide up to 40Gbps of capacity over existing or new fiber infrastructure.

To enable operators to accelerate TWDM-PON deployments and provide high revenue-generating gigabit services to more subscribers, Alcatel-Lucent is launching a new range of products and portfolio enhancements based on this technology,which includes:

• A new Optical Network Unit (ONU) that can be deployed in the home to help deliver a super fast ultra-broadband experience to residential users. The new ONU supports 1Gbps and 10Gbps services on a fixed or tunable wavelength.
• Enhancements to Alcatel-Lucent’s fiber-to-the-home platform which enable up to 2.4 Terabits per second (Tbps) of switching capacity and 360Gbps of uplink capacity needed to help support large scale multiple-gigabit deployments.
• New features to Alcatel-Lucent’s Network Management system to help operators simplify the management and provisioning of GPON and TWDM technologies running over the same fiber network.

With more than 20 customer trials and the world’s first commercial launch of TWDM-PON services by EPB in the city of Chattanooga,Tennessee, Alcatel-Lucent remains committed to helping operators maximize and seamlessly evolve their fiber networks to TWDM-PON. Alcatel-Lucent was the first vendor to support fixed wavelengths in TWDM-PON through its Universal TWDM solution and is now supporting the standardization of XGS-PON which defines the use of a fixed 10/10 wavelength.

Quotes :

Federico Guillén, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Fixed Access Business Line said : “As the leader in TWDM-PON technology, we are committed to helping customers like Chattanooga meet growing residential and business demand for multi-gigabit services today. Providing the flexibility to upgrade to higher speeds over the same physical fiber infrastructure, TWDM-PON creates the value, speed and flexibility operators seek to meet evolving demands over time. Combined with our universal TWDM solution, customers can now gain all the advantages of TWDM at the cost point of lower end technologies like XG-PON1.”

Julie Kunstler, Principal Analyst, Intelligent Networks, with Ovum said : “TWDM-PON is no longer on the horizon, it’s here today. To address the recent surge in demand for residential gigabit services along with expanding business and enterprise requirements, operators need a more advanced access solution. TWDM-PON fulfils this role and provides operators with an excellent upgrade path to quickly add capacity when it’s needed most.”