Nokia took the next step in its apparent quest to corner the rural broadband market, unveiling a new access node designed for network segments which serve smaller populations.
The new Lightspan DF-32GM optical line terminal (OLT) fits in the middle of Nokia’s portfolio of low-density access products, a step above the DF-16GM and one below the MF-2. The two DF products support GPON, XGS-PON and multi-PON in both distributed and disaggregated architectures. All three use the vendor’s Quillion chipset, meaning they are scalable to 25G.
While the DF-16GM is primarily designed for use in distributed locations, the new DF-32GM is a bit more versatile, capable of being used in cabinets, central offices or data centers.
The vendor noted in the press release the DF-32GM is suited to serving network segments with between 1,000 and 2,000 users. Dell’Oro Group VP Jeff Heynen noted that’s significantly less than the 5,000 or so subscribers that can be served by larger platforms.
Nokia’s launch of the DF-32GM comes as operators across the globe and in the U.S. in particular gear up for more rural fiber deployments. In the U.S., many of those will likely be fueled by funding from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which is designed to help cover unserved locations across the country. Many of these are in more rural areas.
The vendor has previously taken several steps to address the needs of rural operators. In June 2022, it put together a fiber-to-the-home deployment kit comprised of active network elements which was designed to serve groups of 1,000 users or less. It built on that release a few months later, partnering with Corning to add the necessary passive network elements to the package.
According to Heynen, though, there is another driver behind Nokia’s latest move.
“There’s a larger trend of distributing OLTs and basically having less subscribers housed on every single OLT,” he explained. “If something happens, if there’s a fiber cut or a platform outage, you’re impacting fewer subscribers.” That trend applies to both rural and suburban deployments.
Nokia said its DF-32GM is available to ship immediately.