Frontier announced today it has reached 100K homes with XGS-PON fiber broadband technology. The new fiber-focused Frontier is working with Nokia on the XGS-PON deployments.
XGS-PON is the next-generation fiber technology that many carriers are evolving to from GPON fiber platforms. The technology is 10G capable and is seen as a leading technology path for many carriers to put themselves in a position to offer mult-gigabit services to both residential and business customers.
Frontier is attempting a remake of sorts, post-bankruptcy. The carrier is ‘all-in’ on fiber with a goal to reach 10 million locations across its footprint with fiber. Its 2021 goal is to reach 600K locations.
“This is a big step forward for our fiber expansion plan, which will reach 600,000 new locations by the end of this year and a targeted 10 million locations by the end of 2025,” said Veronica Bloodworth, Frontier’s Chief Network Officer in a prepared statement.
Other notable XGS-PON announcements include Consolidated Communications and AT&T. Cable companies, including Armstrong, are also pursuing XGS-PON initiatives. Many smaller regional carriers are embracing the technology as well, including companies like Ritter Communications.
Verizon has selected a different path for its next-generation fiber move, opting to leapfrog XGS-PON for NG-PON2 technology.
Technology like XGS-PON is a necessary component for carriers for the ‘gigabit era.’ We recently spoke with Bassam El-Zakhem of Nokia regarding the gigabit era implications for service providers.
The industry is also already teeing up what comes next in the multi-gigabit broadband era, with an eye towards 25G.
