At Cebit this week Huawei announced AgilePOL, a PON (Passive Optical Network) technology based solution that will allow enterprises to build a Passive Optical LAN (POL) network. Is now the time for enterprises to start considering Fibre to the Desk (FTTD) seriously?
There are several advantages, not least the cost of the cables themselves. Cheaper than copper cable, fibre can also be brought back to a single point rather than requiring multiple switches and a complex network support system. For example, the largest device (SmartAX MA5800 series OLT) that acts as a concentration point for Huawei networks supports 32,000 connections although this was originally designed for FTTH there is no reason that it could not be re-purposed.
Huawei believe that as enterprises migrate their applications to the cloud the requirement for complex LAN environments is disappearing. Users now need a fast connection direct to the cloud and do not need to worry about contention, or complex traffic flows as they become bi-directional. As more and more high bandwidth applications such as 4K video, high definition surveillance, online education, and Telepresence conferencing are being delivered direct from the cloud, Fiber To The Home (FTTH) and fiber to the desk (FTTD) are becoming the sensible option.
PON has already been successfully deployed across FTTH networks, one example being in UAE, with Etilisat deploying a fibre network to thousands of home. Enterprises now need to consider as they cable up buildings what their future requirements will be. Do they still need the same copper infrastructure that they have been buying for decades?
There is a sense of deja vu though. Ethernet brought the demise of the serial cable, long length cables returning to a single point on a mini computer was the norm in the 1980’s. FTTD is effectively the same but with better cables and the connection is to a hub that delivers the data outside the building.
The Huawei AgilePOL solution covers all requirements from end to end. They offer Optical Line Terminal (OLT), Optical Distribution Network (ODN), and Optical Network Unit (ONU). The solution contains most of the reliability features that companies expect with dual backhaul solutions and hitless software upgrade capability. More importantly there is a smooth evolution to 10G PON and 40G PON without the requirement for purchasing new switches and end points that a traditional copper solution requires. One wonders whether the same can be said for the 100G PON technology that Huawei announced they had achieved in 2014
Jeff Wang, President of Huawei Access Network Product Line, said: “Huawei AgilePOL solution will simplify enterprise network and improve the efficiency and experience of enterprise cloud services. As the largest PON equipment provider with extensive experience in PON project delivery, Huawei will give full play to its advantages in products and solutions and work with other members to contribute to the POL industry.”
Conclusion
While companies are unlikely to rip up and replace their existing copper unless the price of the raw material climbs astronomically again, they should be considering whether new sites need FTTD. The only question for Huawei is whether high density wireless solutions might offer better flexibility and bandwidth in this modern day. On the Huawei stand they are showing both and for most businesses the likelihood is that any future network deployment will be a mix of technologies as it is today.
PON technology has been tested sufficiently now and it is certainly something that enterprises should consider purchasing for their next generation of wired buildings. The big question that many will ask though is what the overall price difference between the two solutions is. If fibre is still more expensive to deploy than a copper solution, then despite the advantages many companies are likely to remain with their tried and trusted solutions. Over the last few years the biggest price has been the fibre to ethernet terminators for users to connect to and there is little sign at present of those prices coming down significantly.
It will be interesting to see what case studies for FTTD Huawei manages to build and if these are compelling then it may be that the years of copper cabling are finally drawing to an end.
