The roll-out of full fibre may be disruptive but the way that higher and higher speeds are being demonstrated using the same strands of glass highlights that once you have full fibre it can be used for decades.
Nokia and Openreach who are working together in the roll-out of the Openreach FTTP network which while selling just GPON services currently is being deployed with XGS-PON ready equipment has successfully tested the next stage which is a 50 Gbps passive optical network (PON) service.
Labs based tests of fibre optic cabling can go much higher, but the difference with this latest Nokia and Openreach announcement is that it was done over a section of the existing live Openreach FTTP network. No prizes for guessing that the test took place in Ipswich, Suffolk but the test was to a residential property so really was over the normal network, rather than a special bit of fibre between two buildings on the Adstral labs site in Martlesham Heath.
The 50 Gbps PON managed to achieve speeds of 41.9 Gbps download and 20.6 Gbps during the testing.
As the country’s largest full fibre provider, it’s crucial that we continue to research, innovate and evolve our network to meet our customers’ demands for decades to come.
The Full Fibre network we’re building today is a platform for the UK’s economic, social and environmental prosperity, and this test proves we can keep upgrading the speeds and services our customers experience over that network long into the future.
Today we’re deploying XGS-PON ready equipment, and this trial proves we’re ready for the next generational leap, as and when it’s needed.
Trevor Linney, Director, Network Technology at Openreach
This trial shows the incredible power of fibre to increase network capacity in an efficient way. As a futureproof, energy efficient technology, fibre is used by operators like Openreach to connect everything to multi-gigabit services. Our platform provides them with a full range of PON technologies and services that can be delivered over their existing fibre network. From 10G and 25G today to eventually 50Gbps or even 100G, our unique toolkit of fibre solutions allows Openreach to future-proof their network and flexibly address their evolving network demand
Sandy Motley, President Nokia Fixed Networks
For day to day use of a broadband connection at home it is hard to grasp what speeds of 40 Gbps will mean. There are no signs of TV screens in the UK increasing their resolution massively but as with the original streaming services that started with just 1 to 2 Mbps for streams the current 4K televisions in many homes are able to show much higher quality pictures if the 4K stream bandwidth was increased substantially. 8K TV has been around for a while, but is yet to breakthrough into the home. AI and ML (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) are possible ways to exploit this sort of bandwidth, by allowing collection and transfer of massive data sets to a processing centre in real time e.g. shifting data processing between different physical locations to exploit access to cheap electricity for intensive data processing.
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I don’t think that will be needed in any home, unless it is a shared house with a load of people in. The majority of people don’t even need more than 100Mb/s.
it just proves it can be done, but we knew that anyway.
You might think that, but if you have kids and a couple of consoles, they can soak up a 500Mb connection with ease …
zyborg47 tell us again why you have a 500Mb/s connection but suggest others do not need this speed
I got 500Mb/s originally because it was a good price, i was more or less forced to move from FTTC, 36Mb.s was fine for me. The reason I am still on it is more to do with laziness, not being bothered to go down to a lower speed when my contract was up.
Even if you have kids and a couple of consoles you can cope with 100Mb/s, they will work fine, and I doubt bother will download games at the same time
If the speed is available, you can afford it or prepared to pay for it then fine,.
I am happy with FTTC 80/20 and the price was very good @ £18 a month
Of-course no one needs 50Gbps presently.
However, the 50GPON upgrade would surely ensure that there is less likely to be issues resulting in congestion. At present with GPON while 1Gbps symmetric is possible but if many customers load up the network and chose 1Gbps that may cause speed reductions. That may be a reason why Openreach hesitate to offer 1Gbps symmetrical speeds.
With all the Altnets having XGS PON, from a marketing point it may be more rational for Openreach to jump straight to 50GPON because by then XGS will become outdated and Altnets will have the marketing edge.
Good progress to Openreach, on the trial of 50gbps GPON with Nokia, it may not be suitable for everyone at the present time, but as the months and years pass and technology ever advances, and we become ever more data intensive, at least there will be enough bandwidth to cope with local demand. If 50gbps became available today as an upgrade at my local exchange, I wouldn’t upgrade as I’m currently happy with my 1000/115 fttp connection. But wouldn’t mind trialing it free for a Month just to get that badge of honour via the speed test. Congratulations to Openreach for achieving such advances.