The Asia Pacific region is stealing a march on the West when it comes to deploying super-fast broadband services based on next-generation passive optical networks. But high-definition video and future mobile broadband services on LTE networks could accelerate a global need for PONs in the next 3-5 years.

Operators that have deployed 1 gigabit-per-second Ethernet PON (EPON), such as NTT in Japan, already have a requirement for the IEEE’s next-generation 10-Gigabit EPON standard. In contrast, operators in the Americas, Europe and Western Asia that have backed the ITU’s Gigabit PON (GPON), argue that the standard’s 2.5-Gbps downstream (to the user) and 1.25-Gbps upstream offers ample bandwidth for now. For them, next-generation PON, such as 10 Gigabit GPON and the more ambitious wavelength division multiplexing PON (WDM-PON), will only be needed by 2013 at the earliest.

Asia Pacific currently accounts for 80% of the world’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) deployments, according to Idate. EPON is widely adopted in Japan and South Korea, with 14.5 million and 6.8 million FTTH/B subscribers at the end of last year respectively, says the research firm.

Now China is set to take the top spot for EPON deployment. “Look at how much EPON-based FTTB China Telecom has already rolled out: [it has] roughly 12 million subscribers,” says Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, broadband and video, at Infonetics Research. “And China Unicom will be rolling out another 11 million lines of EPON through 2010. Those are pretty staggering numbers.” China Mobile has committed to GPON, but for mobile backhaul and a small amount of broadband lines, says Heynen.

US operator Verizon is deploying GPON while continuing to add users to its existing Broadband PON (BPON) deployments, the precursor standard to GPON. Verizon in the second quarter reported 303,000 additional fibre installations for its triple-play FiOS service which is now available to some 12.7 million homes in the US.

In contrast, Europe remains a region in the PON doldrums. All the major incumbents have backed GPON, but Europe accounts for just 5% of global FTTH/B deployments, and incumbents account for only 5% of that amount, says Idate. “Regulatory uncertainty is still hampering FTTx ...

For full article, a subscription is needed: Click here for TT