Broadband Forum Start Interoperability Testing of 50G-PON and 25GS-PON Kit

The Broadband Forum has begun interoperability testing for the next generation of 50Gbps and 25Gbps (Gigabits per second) capable fibre optic broadband technologies, 50G-PON and 25GS-PON. Participating companies included Adtran, Broadcom, Calix, CIG, Cortina Access, Gemtek, Lambda Networks, MT2, Nokia, Sagemcom, and Vantiva.

At present most of the “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband ISP networks in the United Kingdom tend to be powered by old-fashioned Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) or modern 10Gbps capable XGS-PON (i.e. the ‘X’ stands for 10, the ‘G’ for Gigabits’ and the ‘S’ for symmetric speed) technologies.

However, a few network operators (e.g. Ogi) have deployed 25G-PON (now known as 25GS-PON) and some are even preparing to launch 50G-PON based broadband products in the very near future (e.g. Netomnia / YouFibre and Ogi), but it’s important to ensure that all of this new kit is as interoperable as possible in order to avoid causing undesirable compatibility headaches as network operators start their upgrades.

In keeping with that the Broadband Forum recently held their first “Plugfest” in conjunction with LANPARK and AT&T Labs’ at the latter’s Plano, Texas facility in the USA. The aim of the latest Plugfest, part of a multi-year interoperability testing series that will be conducted in laboratories around the world, was to give vendors an opportunity to ensure their equipment is ready to be deployed when connecting homes and businesses to broadband service providers’ core networks.

Broadband Forum CEO, Craig Thomas, said:

“It’s crucial that the industry prioritizes interoperability, co-existence, and collaboration to help broadband service providers excel with the next generation of PON technologies. Following the success of the previous Plugfest, it was great to see the industry come together again to advance both 25GS and 50G-PON technologies thanks to the participation of the vendors and involvement of LANPARK and AT&T Labs.”

The Plugfests are open to vendors of optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network unit (ONU) equipment, PON chipsets and software stacks, Residential Gateway devices directly incorporating a PON interface, and test and measurement equipment.

The 25GS-PON TC-PMD Layer was tested for the second time at this Plugfest and, for the first time, the 25GS-PON OMCI and 50G-PON TC-PMD Layer was also tested. “At each Plugfest, we see significant interoperability improvements between the products presented by manufacturers,” said Thierry Doligez, CEO of LANPARK.

The next test will take place in France on 7th July 2025, which will test XGS-PON, 25GS-PON, and 50G-PON kit together.