Fiber broadband is on the rise, fast becoming the major technology that connects everyone with Gigabit speeds. Fiber is no longer the privilege of metropolitan areas - it is now taking root in rural areas worldwide. Hear from a fiber market leader on how to efficiently deliver Gigabit speeds to the home and inside the home, and future proof your network.
Kevin Gray:
Hi. My name is Kevin Gray, Publisher at Fierce Telecom. And I'm here today with Wilf Sullivan, the Head of Business Development for Nokia's Fixed Networks division. So, Wilf, thank you for joining us today. I'm just going to jump right into it. We're hearing a lot about fiber, obviously, this year. And I thought it would be a great way to start things off. Just what are you seeing, in terms of demand, for the fiber market in North America?
Wilf Sullivan:
Yeah. So, certainly, in '21, broadband was really growing. And for us, we're seeing fiber-to-the-home is really the best technology to address that demand. It's fast, it's green, it's secure. Most of all, it's future-proof. Whether you are a service provider transforming your network to XGS, or you are a private equity funding overbuilds, or whether it's rural broadband subsidized by the government, fiber-to-the-home is the solution of choice. And related to that, the recently appointed FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, stated that anything less than 100% coverage would be unacceptable.
Kevin Gray:
Wow. So, 100% is a fine ambition and all, but really, how realistic would you say that actually is? And what are the challenges involved in doing something like that?
Wilf Sullivan:
Yeah. Certainly, rural broadband presents its challenges. And that's really why we need to provide service providers a range of potential solutions. And a whole, a big bag, a kit of different options that allow them to focus on the unique idiosyncrasies of the various broadband deployment, whether it's urban, whether it's rural, whether it's multi-dwelling units, or whether it's single-family homes.
And then, specifically to rural broadband and the more difficult deployment scenarios, we're looking at a range of capabilities. We've got a fairly comprehensive portfolio of fiber solutions that have been optimized for rural deployment, for cabinets, for example, for multi-dwelling units. Right-sized optimized solutions that support XGS, that support 25 Gig, that deploy well for those scenarios.
On top of that, we're investing in a fixed wireless access portfolio, which really augments or compliments fiber. It allows for more rapid deployment in cases where fiber may not be practical. And on top of that, we're focusing on the in-home network, as well, which is important. It's more than just getting fiber-to-the-home. It's about getting performance throughout the home.
Kevin Gray:
And you mentioned some of the things that you're doing to help out operators, but maybe you could elaborate that a little bit further. What are you doing at Nokia, to play your part in all this?
Wilf Sullivan:
Yeah. Most important, the first is about increasing capacity. And for us, that's about moving operators from the traditional fiber-to-the-home solution, which has been GPON, to XGS. And in fact, this year, we're seeing that tipping point from GPON to XGS. We'll probably ship somewhere on the order around 75% of our ports will be Multi-PON and XGS capable. I think we're in a position, here at Nokia, that we're an authority on XGS deployment. Dell'Oro puts us as the number one provider of XGS. The platforms that operators are deploying today for XGS or GPON also support 25 Gig capability. So, it really is a future-proof capability, no regrettable spend, provides a real runway for evolution.
Kevin Gray:
So, I've always thought that the XGS-PON is just for more of the larger operators, though, dealing with dense roll-outs. Is that not the case?
Wilf Sullivan:
Well, it may have started that way. But certainly, I would say that, not only large, but most of the operators small, midsize, that we're working with, are taking that technology leap.
Kevin Gray:
Great. Well, there's a whole bunch of questions I wanted to get to today, but we only got time for one more here. And I thought maybe the best place to end things. Obviously, you have a lot of these roll-outs that are going on right now, I think. Can you just give us an example of one or two, and how those are working?
Wilf Sullivan:
Yeah. I think I could probably give you several. But one of the leaders in deploying XGS in the U.S. has been Frontier Communications. They recently announced that they're now serving over 100,000 connected XGS consumers. And for them, the technology that they're deploying is XGS, today. But they've announced publicly that they see the value of evolving that network from XGS to 25 Gig capabilities in the future. So, we're interested in that evolution with them.
A lot of the school districts we're working with in the U.S., subsidized by government funding during the pandemic, students who are underprivileged were not able to participate learning from home, and we found that Fixed Wireless Access deployment, gateways at the home provided by the school boards with a CBRS connection, provided that capability for students, otherwise, who wouldn't be able to learn at home. And you compliment that with our WiFi solution, and you've got a very good learning environment for students.
Kevin Gray:
All right. And that is a great way to end it. That's all the time we have for today. Wilf, thank you so much for joining us.
Wilf Sullivan: