Abu Dhabi, UAE: Home and business broadband services will soon get an uplift with a 50GPON network technology upgrade which will deliver speeds up to 50Gbps. etisalat by e& have made this possible with the successful completion of Middle East’s first symmetric 50G PON (50-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks) broadband service.

PON is the fiber optic technology that delivers broadband connections of 1 Gigabit and beyond. The access speed of PON over a single wavelength has increased almost 100 times, and each generational upgrade in PON technology-expected every 8 to 10 years- is driven by the constant increase in bandwidth demand.

50G PON is defined by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) as the next-generation PON after XG(S)-PON (10-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks). It is also a key technology for F5G-A (Fixed 5th Generation Advanced) defined by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Khalid Murshed, Chief Technology and Information Officer, etisalat by e&, said: “Currently, the mainstream technology is XG(S)-PON. However, with the rapid development of new digital services in recent years, such as glasses-free 8K 3D, ultra-fast cloud storage, and AR/VR, the research and development of next-generation access technologies has become increasingly important. Therefore, 50G PON emerges into a common choice in the industry. Compared to XG(S)-PON, 50G PON not only boosts an increase in the bandwidth by five times, but also reduces the latency by 10 times.”

etisalat by e& conducted testing on various 50G PON capabilities and the network will be qualified to deploy 50GPON.  All indicators have reached an industry-leading level, with the maximum line rate approaching the theoretical limit defined in the 50G PON standard. The optical power budget meets the Optical Distribution Network (ODN) application specifications in live networks and supports the coexistence of 50G PON and XG(S)-PON terminals, enabling to achieve a single integrated network.

As part of its transition to becoming a digital telco, etisalat by e& has been continuously investing in its network and technologies. “By adopting the latest 50G PON solution, we are providing premium digital services to our customers at the same time giving them the opportunity in the future to enjoy download speeds up to 50 Gbps, amplifying their overall experience,” added Murshed.