Paris, October 16, 2013 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is introducing a new ultra-broadband optical fiber access solution for cable multiple-system operators (MSOs). The Ethernet Passive Optical Networking or EPON, solution can be integrated into existing cable access networks to deliver greater capacity to more businesses at a lower cost. This will enable MSOs, particularly those in North America, to expand their service offerings to meet the growing data bandwidth needs of businesses.
Bright House Networks, the sixth largest owner and operator of cable systems in the United States has selected Alcatel-Lucent’s EPON solution for its commercial services network.
North American businesses are estimated to spend over $140 billion per year in total on communications services, yet MSOs are currently only capturing a small percentage of this market. With an increasing reliance on cloud-based services and applications like video conferencing, one of the fastest growing opportunities is high-bandwidth connectivity. Revenue from fixed broadband services providing connections between 100 megabits-per-second (100Mbps) and 1 gigabit-per-second (1G) is predicted to more than double between 2013 and 2017.
Alcatel-Lucent’s new EPON solution will help MSOs meet this demand more cost-effectively, allowing them to capture a far greater share of the growing business services market.
About the Alcatel-Lucent EPON solution
- Alcatel-Lucent’s EPON solution for MSOsis based on the highest capacity fiber platform on the market – the Alcatel-Lucent 7360 ISAM FX with 1G EPON and 10G EPON linecards.
- The solution supports DOCSIS® provisioning of EPON (DPoE™), EPON Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) Optical Network Units (ONU), and a 10G EPON ONU. This enables it to integrate smoothly with existing networks, provisioning systems, and customer premises equipment, allowing MSOs to provision new services quickly and easily.
- EPON delivers more bandwidth (up to 1G or 10G upload and download speeds) than today’s DOCSIS networks and supports three to four times the number of customers per fiber as existing point-to-point coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) solutions.
- EPON is also scalable and flexible, providing symmetrical speeds from 10s of Mbps up to 1 Gbps, with a smooth evolution to 10 Gbps on the same high-capacity fiber platform.
- Alcatel-Lucent’s EPON solution is a further proof point of The Shift Plan, the company’s industrial strategy to become a specialist IP Networking and Ultra-Broadband Access vendor, as well as expanding its footprint in broader market segments, such as MSOs.
