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Work from home during the COVID pandemic has demonstrated the value of ubiquitous high-speed broadband connections to homes. The US government is making $20B in RDOF funds available to bridge the digital divide. Tier 2/3 service providers and utilities are expected to utilize these funds to deploy broadband services to rural and underserved areas, often utilizing FTTH PON. Initial needs will likely be met by deploying GPON or EPON technology with/without a video overlay. As networks expand and bandwidth needs grow, operators can expect to face the need to upgrade to XGS-PON, 10GEPON, or even higher data rates. By designing, installing and verifying FTTH networks with eventual higher speed PON technologies in mind, operators can deploy GPON/EPON today while ensuring an easy upgrade to next gen PON when needed.

This presentation reviews GPON technology, identifies differences between GPON/EPON and 10GPON (XG/XGS-PON and 10GEPON), and provides recommendations when installing and verifying FTTH PONs to ease future migration to 10GPON as needed.

PRESENTED BY: Michael Scholten, Senior Product Line Manager – Test and Inspection Division, AFL

Scholten has over 20 years of experience in fiber optic network test, including product marketing, systems engineering, project management, hardware and software development. His experience includes FTTH PON, Ethernet, OTN and SDH at data rates up to 100 Gb/s. He represents AFL in TIA and IEC fiber-related standardization activities. In his spare time, Michael is an avid cyclist. Michael holds a BSEE from Michigan Technological University.