The digital world has become relentless in transforming human experiences. High-speed low-latency data connectivity and rich, immersive digital content is influencing and shaping the future of societies and industries.
Key to the rapid growth in data connectivity are fiber broadband networks. By the end of 2030, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is expected to make up 75% of all fixed broadband subscribers globally [1], with passive optical network technologies (PON) accounting for >95% of total FTTH market. Fiber networks based on PON are very attractive investment due to their ability to create revenues, meet sustainability targets and provide value in the long term.
One of the best properties of fiber is its ability to evolve to higher capacity by simply adding new wavelengths (colors of light) on the existing fiber cabling - each wavelength carrying traffic at higher speeds. Fiber speeds today have reached 25Gbps, with demonstrations of 100Gbps already ongoing.
Towards a converged model
As its adoption and speed accelerates, PON networks are found almost everywhere, making them readily accessible for a plethora of use cases, new services and new revenues. This drives a new trend in fiber broadband: it is not Fiber-to-the-Home anymore but Fiber-for-Everything. Fiber-for-Everything spurs a new era, bringing network monetization to the next level by expanding the use of fiber. The same fiber that passes our homes also passes businesses, commercial campuses, schools, hospitals and public buildings. It can meet the connectivity needs of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and even larger enterprises, Industry 4.0, smart cities and 5G mobile transport.
How does this benefit operators?
The convergence of multiple use cases on a common infrastructure enables operators to create more revenue streams on the existing fiber investment, and accelerate network monetization. Nokia analyses shows that a FTTH business typically has an ROI of 7 years, and with network conversion to add additional services, this period can be shortened to 5 years.
Fiber-for-Everything also delivers benefits for all new services that can be delivered over fiber. For example, leveraging the existing PON networks enable operators to connect enterprises at 30% lower total cost of ownership. 5G also benefits from PON networks, delivering 50% cost savings for 5G cell transport. Existing and new customers also benefit from a greener technology that brings down overall energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Chorus already building for the 25G future with Hyperfibre
Seizing the moment
The move to merge multiple services on a common fiber infrastructure has been a long-time ambition that has finally come to fruition following a number of technological advancements.
The first and biggest advancement is improvement in capacity. Early fiber deployment phases saw bandwidth limitations confining PON deployments to residential customers and SMEs. Today, the realization of multi-gigabit speeds on XGS-PON and 25G PON, and the promise of 50G and 100G in the future offers capacity to match the growth in non-residential bandwidth needs.
The second advancement is latency of 1ms or lower. Growing number of new applications that are fuelling industry 4.0 depend on connectivity that provides high capacity as well as low latency. 5G fronthaul also requires low latency. Recent advances in PON network policies make PON an efficient solution to deliver performance required by all these applications.
Fiber-for-Everything also builds on the adoption of software-defined networking (SDN) and network slicing. Network slicing enables operators to partition the underlying fiber infrastructure into multiple virtual network slices. Each slice can be dedicated to a different feature, for example a slice for residential services, or enterprises or mobile transport, that can be managed independently and feature different network parameters and QoS.
Poised for the long run
Fiber is the greenest among all access technologies. It is 6-8 times more power efficient than copper, coax or wireless. Fiber thus plays an imperative role in lowering the industry’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. Fiber is also resilient against harsh environmental conditions and boasts a life expectancy of more than 75 years, ensuring connectivity that is not just the fastest and the most efficient, but also long-lasting.
Operators are realizing the potential of fiber as the single infrastructure to deliver any service anywhere, making fiber broadband networks the pillars of our connected world. Thanks to their ubiquitous availability and technology advances, they are now capable to connect more than just homes. Our industry is entering Fiber-for-Everything era that brings greater monetization opportunities for operators and most sustainable connectivity for all.
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To learn more:
Check out Nokia's whitepaper on Fiber-for-Everything
Catch up on the solutions powering Nokia’s Fiber-for-Everything
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Sources:
[1] Point Topic - https://www.point-topic.com/post/global-fixed-broadband-2030
