Turk Telecom

Türk Telekom and ZTE have carried out a 50G PON trial in Turkey. The two firms announced that their trial delivered speeds in excess of 50 Gbps in the downstream over a single fiber and did so in a way that was compatible with existing PON generations already deployed in Türk Telekom’s network. The PON technologies used were GPON and XGS-PON – the latter offering 10 Gbps symmetrical speeds – technologies alongside 50G PON.

“This interoperability significantly expands the OLT’s potential applications, paving the way for future services such as ultra-high bandwidth access, mobile xHaul, and deterministic campus networks in both home and enterprise environments,” ZTE said.

Yong Jie, CEO of ZTE Türkiye, said: “At the MWC 2022, ZTE unveiled the world’s first precise 50G PON prototype. In 2022, the 50G PON standard was finalized and received wide attention in the industry. It is expected that by 2025, the 50G PON industry chain will be ready for commercialization. As a frontrunner in the transformative journey to 50G PON, ZTE is pleased to empower Türk Telekom to accelerate the realization of their vision to provide unparalleled connectivity solutions to customers across Türkiye.”

In February, ZTE introduced the industry’s first symmetric 50G PON ONU, ZXEN G300-N9, featuring a 50G Ethernet optical port and seamless integration with the symmetric 50G PON Combo line card to meet high-speed access needs for government and enterprise campuses.

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Mehmet Beytur, Support Services and Procurement Management Assistant General Manager of Türk Telekom, said:

“As Türk Telekom, we are at the forefront of our country’s digital transformation, constantly spearheading innovative projects. Our successful collaboration with ZTE on the 3-in-1 50G PON Combo trial exemplifies this commitment. We will continue to take pioneering steps in innovative solutions.”

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However, 50G PON commercial deployment is not imminent as 25G PON is what’s being rolled out now by fiber facilities based telcos. Network operators have repeatedly indicated that they do not want to disrupt their optical distribution networks (ODNs) by moving to a new technology too quickly.

There are a number of technological barriers to 50G PON, one of which is alluded to in the ZTE announcement: while 50G PON can offer 50 Gbps-plus downstream speeds, it is not yet symmetrical, uplink speeds being half that or less.

Nonetheless, the trial is an important step in the ongoing development of 50G PON, even if future deployments are perhaps further away than the vendor community might like.

Dell’Oro pointed out that the coexistence of 50G PON with previous PON generations, and the implementation of combo PON, will be critical to the successful rollout of the technology. The analyst firm noted that “much more significant growth is expected after 2027, as operators begin to evolve their 10Gbps PON networks to next-generation technologies.”

References:

https://www.mobileworldlive.com/turk-telekom-and-zte-conduct-europe-first-3-in-1-50g-pon-combo-trial-in-turkiye/

https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/turk-telekom-and-zte-conduct-europe-first-3-in-1-50g-pon-combo-trial-in-turkiye0.html

https://www.telecoms.com/fibre/t-rk-telekom-and-zte-trial-50g-pon

https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/ZTE-unveils-symmetric-8-port-50G-PON-Combo-and-50G-PON-Wi-Fi-7-ONU.html