CityFibre, the broadband challenger that is now the UK’s largest carrier-neutral wholesale Full Fibre infrastructure platform is to move to XGS-PON access technology.
XGS-PON access technology will be deployed as standard from April 2023, enabling the introduction of residential and business services at symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbps – around ten times the capability of CityFibre’s current G-PON based architecture.
It will also mean the company will be able to place more customers on each OLT port, enabling substantial network cost savings, reducing power use across its networks and improving the efficiency of its future network expansion.
“Our parallel deployment of a high-capacity national backbone to carry virtually unlimited traffic alongside this XGS-PON deployment programme will deliver a highly efficient and adaptable network for the future,” explained John Franklin, CityFibre’s Chief Technology and Information Officer.
CityFibre has chosen Calix and Nokia as its XGS-PON technology partners. Calix has been CityFibre’s G-PON technology partner since 2018, playing a foundational role in the development of CityFibre’s Full Fibre network. Meanwhile Nokia has provided critical support for CityFibre’s service aggregation platform since 2016. These two trusted partners will ensure diversity of supply chain – a vital part of any critical national infrastructure deployment.
A whole-city pilot of G-PON to XGS-PON technology has taken place in York – representing the largest of its kind in the UK so far. The York upgrade was undertaken in partnership with Calix, Lambda Networks and Splice Group.
