We are used to financial inflation, but there’s inflation in technology, too. A decade ago, even 1 Gb/s broadband to the home was the stuff of science fiction. Today, more than 450 gigabit fiber networks are deployed across the world, 25G PON is being implemented by leading broadband providers, 50G PON is in the works and Nokia has even made future evolution to 100G PON look easy in early proof-of-concepts.

All this being built in response to rapacious demand. As a result, Nokia’s customers have been deploying fiber at the speed of light (if you will forgive the pun). By connecting millions of homes, fiber passes streets and buildings in many towns, cities and even rural communities around the world. And this has led far-sighted network operators to think a step ahead and make the leap beyond fiber-to-the-home to, well, Fiber for Everything: going beyond connecting homes, to connecting businesses; powering industry 4.0; and enabling smart cities. All at the same time and on the same infrastructure.

And let’s just pause a moment to think about what that really implies, because different services have very different performance criteria, and many are mission, or even life critical.

It’s time for broadband technology to rise to the challenge. And I’m proud that Nokia is doing exactly that with the Nokia Lightspan MF-14: the most advanced fiber broadband platform in the world, designed specifically for the Fiber for Everything era.

Fiber for Everything means industry 4.0 applications that rely on gigabits of bandwidth to process vast amounts of video in the cloud. Lightspan MF-14 is the highest capacity platform in the industry and the only solution ready for massive non-blocking delivery of 25G, 50G and 100G PON services. It’s also the industry’s first OLT with the six-nines availability and sub-millisecond latency needed for mission critical broadband industry 4.0 and 5G transport services.

In short, Lightspan MF-14 is a single solution that accomplishes multiple tasks, with multiple requirements, smoothly and with zero drama.

To make these complex tasks easier to manage, Lightspan MF-14 is an SDN-native platform, running new software with a modular architecture and open APIs for enhanced operational and business efficiency, so operators can use intent-based networking and automation.

What’s more, Lightspan MF-14 has power efficiency that is two years ahead of the industry – thanks in no small part to our in-house designed Quillion chipset – making it by far the greenest way to connect broadband customers.

The most obvious benefit of Fiber for Everything is the elimination of parallel connectivity requirements. Using an existing FTTH network for mobile transport is 50 percent more cost efficient than implementing a dedicated transport network. Moving business customers from point-to-point to a converged PON network is 30 percent more cost efficient. A single Fiber for Everything network is cheaper to operate and maintain, and consumes far less power. Meanwhile, multiple services on a single infrastructure generate new revenues that accelerate ROI, not only now but – with a hardware platform that will see network operators all the way through to 100G PON – well into the future.

With Lightspan MF-14, we’re going beyond fiber to the home to achieve Fiber for Everything. Why not join us on that journey!
 

How evolutions in fiber technology are enabling operators to use fiber for everything,
by Roland Montagne, Principal Analyst at IDATE.