The latest provider to deploy 25G PON fiber broadband is Pennsylvania cable company Service Electric Cablevision (SECV).
Operating in eastern Pennsylvania, the service provider will pass more than 200,000 new and existing homes and businesses, initially offering symmetrical 10 Gbps service using XGS PON. The FTTH service will be able to support higher speeds going forward. It also could evolve to 50 GPON and 100 GPON in the future.
The project will use Nokia’s MF-14 and MF-2 chassis-based Optical Line Terminals (OLTs). The build will also feature Nokia’s SF-8M node-based OLT.
“With 25G PON, we’ll be able to deliver true 10G broadband service to customers and further establish ourselves as the premier choice in eastern Pennsylvania,” SECV Vice President Mark Walter said in a press release.
Service Electric claims to be the country’s first cable system, although some contend the honor belongs to a provider in Oregon.
25G PON networking seems to be gaining momentum. The Dell’Oro Group expects the technology to triple its revenue between the end of last year and the end of 2025. In September 2023, Stefaan Vanhastel, head of marketing and innovation for fixed networks for Nokia, told Telecompetitor that most service providers currently see 25G PON as a way to increase revenue from business customers.
Nokia, which today introduced a 25G PON fiber modem, is the dominant vendor to date.
According to those involved, the first 25G PON test in North America was conducted by Nokia and Bell Canada at Bell’s Advanced Technology Lab in Montreal late in 2021. Frontier Communications said it conducted a trial with Nokia in December 2021.
In August 2022, EPB, the municipally owned electric and broadband company in Chattanooga, deployed a symmetrical 25G PON service based on Nokia equipment.
Google Fiber said last October that the first project from its GFiber Labs is a 20 Gbps service offering supported by Wi-Fi 7. The platform, which was to be ready for deployment earlier this year, also is based on Nokia’s 25G PON and pre-certified Wi-Fi 7 routers.
