Enabling Broadband:  Nokia’s Lightspan M-14 Addresses PON Migration; Plume Targets MDU Broadband Opportunity

This week we’re tracking several new broadband vendor platforms: Nokia’s Lightspan MF-14 to Support 25, 50 and 100 Gbps PON; Plume Targets MDU Broadband Opportunity with Uprise Cloud-based Solution; Calix SmartTown Managed Service Addresses Community Wi-Fi Opportunity; DZS Extends Velocity Fiber Access Portfolio with Multi-Terabit V6 System; Hexvarium Debuts Broadband Network Modeling Tool; VIAVI Acquires Jackson Labs for Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Solutions; Nokia Debuts SaaS for Fixed Networks Portfolio.

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Nokia’s Lightspan MF-14 to Support 25, 50 and 100 Gbps PON
Nokia has unveiled its Generation 6 broadband platform-- Lightspan MF-14--which it says will address the ‘fiber-for-everything’ world where fiber broadband networks evolve to become a single infrastructure for all services. The Lightspan MF-14 platform can enable the vendor to claim mass delivery of 25G and future 50G and 100G PON services. Also, the OLT offers six-nines availability and sub-millisecond latency needed for mission-critical industry 4.0 and 5G transport services. It also incorporates several next-gen software capabilities, including SDN for automated operations, flexibility in managing multiple services, and cloud-based fast telemetry and digital mirror. Frontier Communications, the first in the U.S. to trial 25G PON, is also the first to evaluate MF-14 in its live network. 

Plume Targets MDU Broadband Opportunity with Uprise Cloud-based Solution
Plume has launched Uprise, a cloud- and AI-powered connectivity and management solution addressing the unique needs of Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs)—including apartments, multifamily, and other high-density living spaces. The new suite of services extends the benefits of Plume’s HomePass™ and WorkPass™ suites to the MDU market, enabling property managers and Communications Service Providers (CSPs) to provide highly personalized customer experiences while reducing costs through unmatched hardware choice and lower CAPEX. MDUs represent a significant proportion of European and U.S. homes, and investment in the multifamily category is rising globally. Yet property management companies often struggle with inefficient infrastructure and fragmented solutions that lead to poor Internet performance, expensive property buildouts, and outdated experiences for tenants. Uprise enables property managers and CSPs to flexibly deliver a premium experience to tenants.

Calix SmartTown Managed Service Addresses Community Wi-Fi Opportunity
Calix launched SmartTown, a managed service to enable broadband service providers (BSPs) to bring critical managed Wi-Fi services to communities at scale seamlessly. To date, BSPs have had limited choice in solutions when crafting community-wide managed Wi-Fi offerings. SmartTown is U.S. Census Bureau data from 2020 and 2021 that shows a significant migration of over 1 million people from urban centers to less populated parts of the country. This shift from cities to small towns and rural areas, accentuated by the growth of work-from-home trends, underlines rising expectations for the availability of top-tier Wi-Fi experiences. BSPs can now connect subscribers regardless of geography while they attend outdoor events, walk their dogs, or spend time with their friends and families at local parks. They can also help their communities seek grants for eduroam® to bring Wi-Fi to low-income students. SmartTown gives BSPs a competitive advantage and opens the door to new revenue streams while building lasting community relationships and reaching new audiences of subscribers.

DZS Extends Velocity Fiber Access Portfolio with Multi-Terabit V6 System
DZS introduced the multi-terabit DZS Velocity V6 system, a new addition to the DZS Velocity fiber access portfolio that delivers high density in a six-rack unit (6RU). This environmentally hardened form factor redefines how service providers deploy Passive Optical Networking (PON) in high-density locations. The platform is architected to meet the high symmetrical bandwidth. Low latency requirements of emerging applications like the Ultra High Definition (UHD) augmented reality / virtual reality / extended reality (AR/VR/XR) world of the metaverse, the V6 scales to 800 gigabits per second (Gbps) of non-blocking switching capacity per slot to deliver maximum performance and flexible upgrades to 50 and 100 Gbps-class PON and other fiber access technologies in the future.

Hexvarium Debuts Broadband Network Modeling Tool
Hexvarium, a next-generation developer, facilitator, and operator of broadband networks, has introduced its real-time analytical platform called HexMAPP™ to answer critical investment questions quickly and, most importantly, to continue to ask these questions over the life of a deployment. As the FCC broadband definition is moving to 100Mbps/20Mbps, Hexvarium estimates that 40-50 million locations suffer from limited, poor, or unaffordable broadband service. In addition, Hexvarium-built networks can be white-labeled, so multiple ISPs can use them to deliver more choice to each community and thereby reduce the monopolistic broadband conditions most communities suffer. Hexvarium’s HexMAPP platform determines how and where to build fiber networks for the highest possible impact on the community and the best possible return to investors, regardless of location. The platform considers several factors, including the capital, labor, materials, marketing, and time by evaluating factors such as who owns and lives in each property (and for how long), the cost to pass and connect each property, the competitive environment (what speeds and prices are being offered and by whom), the cost of capital, the ROI, and the technologies best suited for reaching each property. Once a project is underway, the platform continually re-evaluates all factors to ensure that the project remains sustainable for the long term. 

VIAVI Acquires Jackson Labs for Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Solutions
VIAVI has completed the acquisition of Jackson Labs Technologies, a developer of Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions for critical infrastructure serving both military and civilian applications. Jackson Labs develops and supplies modules, subsystems, and box-level solutions that include front-end receivers, transcoders, rack-mounted equipment, and patented retrofit technology. Their broad customer base includes armed forces, defense contractors, energy distribution infrastructure, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operators, and 5G service providers. Jackson Labs’ next-generation M-Code solutions complement and advance VIAVI’s timing and synchronization portfolio when PNT requirements for defense, space, commercial aviation, transportation, and telecommunication networks are expanding and becoming increasingly critical.

Nokia Debuts SaaS for Fixed Networks Portfolio
Nokia now offers its cross-portfolio lineup of Fixed Network solutions available on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis. The vendor says the SaaS delivery model reduces IT dependencies and, with a usage-based subscription, can deliver up to 25 percent lower cost of ownership. Already available on bare metal servers and in the cloud, Nokia’s Fixed Networks applications can now be deployed by operators on a SaaS delivery model with a portfolio including the Altiplano Access Controller and Wi-Fi Cloud Controller. Operational tools for automated activation of end-user fiber modems, predictive care, and network build and management are also part of the line-up. Metronet and LUS Fiber use Nokia’s all-inclusive SaaS service, where Nokia performs the application hosting, including the set-up, monitoring, maintenance and updates.