Verizon will begin deploying GPON access equipment from Alcatel-Lucent in its FTTP network, making it the first major telecommunications company in the US to deploy the technology. Verizon plans to roll out GPON first to a group of customers in Lewisville, Texas, early in the second quarter, and then to a group of customers in Kirklyn, Pa., over the summer. At the successful conclusion of the initial deployments, plans for wider expansion of the new technology will be announced.
In the meantime, Verizon will continue deploying the broadband passive optical network (BPON), which it has been using since it began construction of its all-fiber network in 2004.
BPON delivers downlink transmission speeds of 622 Mbps and 155 Mbps upstream. When the fiber reaches a neighborhood it is split up to feed multiple fibers, serving as many as 32 customers. With G-PON electronics, that same fiber from the switching office will have a downstream transmission speed of 2.4 Gbps and an upstream speed of 1.2 Gbps.
Verizon and Alcatel-Lucent also announced that they have reached a definitive agreement under which Alcatel-Lucent will supply the GPON equipment to Verizon. Verizon announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent last summer, and both parties had been working on a definitive contract since then.
The new equipment includes new optical network terminals (ONTs) where Verizon's fiber terminates at customers' homes and optical loop terminals (OLTs) in Verizon's central switching offices. Specifically, Verizon will deploy the Alcatel-Lucent 7342 ISAM fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) platform.
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
- In July 2006, Verizon selected Alcatel, Motorola and Tellabs as GPON suppliers for its FTTP network, subject to negotiating final agreements. Both Motorola and Tellabs are currently supplying BPON equipment for Verizon's rollout in 16 states.
