AT&T and other leading communications companies join the 25GS-PON Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) Group

• The 25G symmetric PON multi-source agreement (25GS-PON MSA) Group is growing rapidly, with the addition of seven new members since it was first announced
• AT&T’s commitment to the MSA Group highlights the importance of 25GS-PON to the telecommunications industry
• Technology vendors including CommScope, Cortina Access, Feneck, HiLight Semiconductor, Hisense Broadband and Semtech among those fast-tracking 25GS-PON commercialization    
• Industry group brings together major operators along with leading system and component vendors to define and promote next-generation 25GS-PON technology in support of emerging 5G and industrial requirements at cost-effective price targets

March 3, 2021

The 25GS-PON MSA Group today announced the addition of seven new member companies including AT&T, CommScope, Cortina Access, Feneck, HiLight Semiconductor, Hisense Broadband and Semtech. These companies, along with the ten founding 25GS-PON MSA members, are enabling a move beyond the limitations of 10 Gb/s next-generation PON, the current state-of-the-art.

The 25GS-PON MSA was first announced on October 8, 2020 with the goal of promoting and accelerating the development of 25GS-PON technology. Since its formation, the 25GS-PON MSA Group has published version 1.0 of the 25 Gigabit Symmetrical Passive Optical Network specification, providing the basis for how 25GS-PON should be implemented to ensure basic functionality and interoperability across different vendors.  The founding members of the 25GS-PON MSA Group include AOI, Chorus, Chunghwa Telecom, Ciena, MACOM, MaxLinear, NBN Co., Nokia, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd, and Tibit Communications. 

There are several performance and efficiency-driven demands propelling the market toward 25GS-PON. The first is for 5G wireless networks, which will require three to ten times greater density than 4G. 25GS-PON is extremely well suited to support xHaul transport for 5G’s increased cell density and capacity requirements. With 25GS-PON, operators can leverage their existing fiber networks to significantly reduce both the cost and time required to bring up 5G services, ultimately delivering better services to consumers.

Another factor driving 25GS-PON is enterprises’ growing reliance on high-performance applications, including cloud computing big data applications, artificial intelligence and machine learning. 25GS-PON can deliver true 10 Gb/s symmetrical services.  Because 25GS-PON leverages mature, high-volume data center optical technology, it can be implemented quickly and cost efficiently. The first 25GS-PON products have been announced, and analysts anticipate the first trials this year, with deployments in 2022.

“The addition of such a wide range of network operators, equipment vendors, and component suppliers to the 25GS-PON MSA is evidence of the technology’s importance for 5G xHaul and enterprise services,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President, Broadband Access and Home Networking for Dell’Oro Group. “25G PON’s ability to co-exist with XGS-PON and reuse existing fiber plant makes it extremely attractive to operators around the world.”

Information regarding the 25GS-PON Group, including a copy of the 25GS-PON v1.0 specification, is published at www.25gspon-msa.org. The 25GS-PON MSA Group invites other industry leaders to join the group to advance the technology and market. To express interest, follow the link on the 25GS-PON MSA website or send an email to info@25gspon-msa.org.  

New Member Comments
CommScope: “CommScope is joining the 25GS-PON MSA Group to lend our global expertise in standards development and PON deployments to the advancement of the 25 Gigabit specification. This evolution of PON is a necessary step in enabling Wireless xHaul as well as serving the growing bandwidth requirements of enterprises and future networks and applications.”

Cortina Access: “We are delighted to join this industry collaboration effort to define and develop the 25G symmetrical PON technology, a next step in the PON evolution. PON technology has been proven to be the most cost-effective solution, not only connecting the residential homes, but also providing the optical transport infrastructure for current and future business applications.”

Feneck: “25GS-PON is a natural evolution to the highly successful GPON and XGS-PON access technologies and builds the foundation for converged next-generation access. Taking an active role in the 25GS-PON MSA will enable Feneck to provide our customers with industry-leading FPGAs supporting the industry’s highest performance access platforms.”

HiLight Semiconductor: “HiLight are excited to join the 25GS-PON MSA and bring our CMOS technology and economies of scale to help enable 25Gbps PON networks with our proven product line of GPON, 10G-PON and now 25G-PON PMD ICs.”

About the 25GS-PON MSA
The 25GS-PON Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) brings together major operators along with leading system and component vendors, to promote and accelerate the development and deployment of 25 Gigabit Symmetrical Passive Optical Network (25GS-PON) technology. 25GS-PON meets the needs of the mobile 5G era and large-scale enterprises, providing communications service providers with the most cost-effective and timely evolution path for PON fiber technology. Current members include AOI, AT&T, Chorus, Chunghwa Telecom, Ciena, CommScope, Cortina Access, Feneck, HiLight Semiconductor, Hisense Broadband, MACOM, MaxLinear, NBN Co., Nokia, Semtech, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd, and Tibit Communications.

For more information, or to express interest in joining the 25GS-PON MSA, visit www.25gspon-msa.org and follow us on Twitter @25gspon_msa.

Media Inquiries:
Phone: +1 (858) 705-0319
Email: press@25gspon-msa.org

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