2020.02 ISSUE 8828
AirPON: Opening the door to fiber network rollout for mobile operatorsBased on AirPON, operators can build a fixed and mobile merged network that improves connections for end users by reusing mobile base station resources, thus delivering a premium broadband service experience for home users.
By Lu Chunyu, Senior Marketing Manager, Transmission & Access Marketing Execution, Huawei
Solutions
2020.02 ISSUE 88 29
AirPON: Opening the door to fiber network rollout for mobile operators
To transform from a mobile
operator into a full-service
operator requires FTTH network
construction. However, to do
so also needs the deployment of centralized
OLTs in the aggregation equipment room
and long-distance ODN networks – 3 to 5
km – to cover home broadband users. In
addition to high investment in the initial
phase, operators also have to go through the
complex process of obtaining ROW for the
long-distance ODN, which usually draws out
the project deployment period to a year and
costs more than US$500 per line.
Huawei launched the AirPON solution as part
of its strategy to develop 10G PON-ready
Gigabit FTTH networks based on mobile sites.
AirPON greatly improves the efficiency of
mobile operators when it comes to building
fixed networks by reconstructing FMC
planning. It also shifts network connections
away from a large central office (CO), instead
connecting the ODN network via the OLT
from a mobile site, making it much closer to
home users. Therefore, it sharply declines the
TCO of overall network construction.
Better home broadband needs higher bandwidth
In the early stages of full-service
transformation, mobile operators mainly rely
on the advantage of quick service provisioning
by WTTx to deploy broadband networks
and quickly attract home broadband users.
However, during the expansion of home
broadband services, user demand for higher
bandwidth has increased rapidly. However,
as WTTx only supports 20 Mbps bandwidth
To power a full-service strategy and quickly develop fixed broadband services, Huawei and several mobile operators jointly launched AirPON at the end of 2019 to meet typical requirements for fast, low-cost construction.
compared with 100 Mbps provided by fixed
line operators, operators using WTTx are
gradually losing market share. Moreover, FTTH
with optical fiber is the best weapon to face
competitors with. Taking advantage of the
customer loyalty fostered by WTTx, operators
can switch their users from WTTx to FTTH
quickly, therefore achieving steady growth in
the home broadband field.
To ensure sustainable growth in the market,
operators need to optimize their home
broadband and network construction
strategies. Considering ROI, building 10G PON-
ready all-optical access networks is the best
choice at present for fast, low-cost network
construction and quick service provisioning at
higher broadband speeds.
A way to deliver home broadband
To power a full-service strategy and quickly
develop fixed broadband services, Huawei
and several mobile operators jointly launched
AirPON at the end of 2019 to meet typical
requirements for fast, low-cost construction.
Huawei began deploying the AirPON E2E
solution using operators’ mobile base stations,
including pole-mounted outdoor cabinets
M50 with built-in mini OLT, Blade OLT, uneven
splitting, and E2E pre-connected DQ ODN.
Huawei’s AirPON solution has the following
advantages on top of fast construction:
Lower TCO due to a shorter ODN distance: A
traditional ODN covers 5 km, which AirPON
reduces to between 1 km and 500 m.
Requiring far fewer optical cables and cores,
ROW acquisition is simplified and network
/ Solutions
2020.02 ISSUE 8830
construction is more efficient. The solution improves
the deployment efficiency of workers and reduces
deployment complexity, solving the problems of
high costs and long construction times and cutting
TCO by 30 percent.
Zero site acquisition and reused mobile sites, fiber,
and power supply: Traditionally, OLTs must be
installed in the CO, which requires 10 people and
six months for CO site preparation. However,
Huawei’s industry-first pole-mounted M50
outdoor cabinet features a built-in mini OLT and
full compact outdoor Blade OLT, which is similar
in size and to install as a wireless Blade BBU. It
shares sites with mobile base stations and reuses
backhaul networks and power supply for fast
deployment in just one day by two people.
Zero fiber splicing and DQ ODN for E2E pre-
connection: Traditionally, aerial optical cable
deployment requires three rounds of aerial
construction, while FAT-based installation takes
a series of 10 steps. Moreover, fiber splicing is
difficult and requires dedicated tools. However,
Huawei’s DQ ODN solution pre-connects all cables
between an OLT and users without the need for
fiber splicing. FAT-based installation takes only
three parallel steps. The construction cycle is
reduced from 220 minutes and four people per HP
to 40 minutes and two people per HP, increasing
efficiency by 70 percent.
Zero configuration and OLT/ONT plug-and-play: OLTs
support zero-touch deployment (ZTD) and require
zero onsite software commissioning, reducing
labor costs by 60 percent. ONTs support zero-
touch provision (ZTP), plug-and-play, and cloud
authentication without home visits. Including OLT
upstream service provisioning and user-side Internet
access tests, E2E FTTH service provision can be
completed within 1 day.
Building a 10G PON-ready network: Huawei’s Flex-
PON service boards integrates three modes: GPON,
XG Combo, and XGS Combo. To upgrade to 10G
PON, operators can just replace optical modules at
the OLT Flex-PON board and upgrade GPON or 10G
PON ONT terminals on demand without changing
the ODN. In this way, a FTTH network can be
constructed to be 10G PON-ready at GPON costs.
The AirPON-based network construction pattern
is currently deployed by some operators in the
emerging market. By providing FTTH services, it
increases the bandwidth of low- and medium-
speed users connected on WTTx, helping operators
improve user loyalty, reduce churn, and handle
market competition. Successful implementation has
proven that the Huawei AirPON solution leads the
way in FMC construction efficiency.
Better home broadband experience
AirPON can help mobile operators rapidly cover
high-value, highly competitive areas with FTTH,
and launch service packages with a minimum
bandwidth of 100 Mbps based on all-optical
access networks.
Operators can also develop the gigabit leased
line market and gradually introduce new services
such as 4K and cloud VR to provide users with
converged broadband. This strategy will enhance
user loyalty, reduce churn rate, and increase
ARPU. Based on AirPON, operators can build a
fixed and mobile merged network that improves
connections for end users by using mobile base
station resources, thus delivering a premium
broadband service experience for home users.
Solutions
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