NBN Co shows off 10Gbps FTTP technology

NBN Co says a year of testing with Nokia has shown next-generation passive optical fibre technology can deliver 10 gigabit per second speeds.

NG-PON2 will initally be used for data backhaul, but could also be destined for end-user connections if NBN Co commits to the new technology.

Nokia and NBN Co ran laboratory tests in Melbourne that hit an aggregate speed of 102Gbps (51Gbps down, 51Gbps up) using the NG-PON2 technology.

NBN said the test setup comprised a single fibre pair over which it combined a gigabit passive optical connection along with XGSPON (10Gbps downstream, 10Gbps upstream), and four 10+10Gbps time and wavelength division multiplexing (TWDM) links for a total headline rate of 102Gbps.

The test demonstrated how NG-PON2 can be used to benefit end users connected to copper broadband services such as G.Fast or XG.Fast over NBN Co's fibre-to-the-basement and fibre-to-the-curb networks, the company said.

NG-PON2 can also be used to provide extra capacity in the fibre-optic links that support hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) and fixed wireless networks, NBN Co said.

However, in fibre-to-the-premises scenarios, NG-PON2 can deliver symmetric broadband connections at 10Gbps - ten times the 1Gbps downstream and upstream provided by existing GPON networks.

NG-PON2 achieves the ten-fold speed increase over GPON through TWDM technology that allows between four to eight wavelengths per single fibre strand. 

NBN Co didn't provide a timeframe for when it would roll out NG-PON2, but chief technology officer Dennis Steiger says the fast broadband connections are five to ten years away.

The new technology would "over time augment the GPON technology offered to retailers selling services" over its FTTP network, Steiger said.

The broadband wholesaler expects the current GPON FTTP network to available to up to 2.5 million premises by 2020.