XG-PON1 10G GPON may not be enough for Verizon

While Verizon (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) has taken several versions of XG-PON technology for a spin (see "Verizon tests XG PON 10G GPON with Huawei equipment,"“Verizon's second field trial of 10 Gbps XG-PON FTTP affirms FiOS network design,” and “Verizon field trials XG-PON2 from Alcatel-Lucent”), the company has its eyes on faster speeds than the 10 Gbps downstream and 2.5 Gbps upstream XG-PON1 gear will provide.

Speaking to reporters and analysts yesterday after delivering a keynote address at the TIA 2012: Inside the Network event in Dallas, Verizon Executive Vice President and CTO Tony Melone said that the carrier has not yet chosen the technology that eventually will replace the GPON systems currently in its network. Melone said he would prefer platforms that could support downstream speeds of 40 Gbps and upstream rates of 10 Gbps – 4X the capacity of XG-PON1.

Melone added it’s unlikely Verizon will deploy symmetrical 10-Gbps technology. But he stressed that Verizon has not dismissed XG-PON1 completely, saying such platforms could be used as an interim step toward the 40G/10G goal if such higher-speed GPON systems were not available when Verizon is ready to upgrade. He didn’t say when such upgrades would be required.

In his keynote, Melone said that Verizon will likely extend its FiOS FTTP network past another 800,000 homes this year, which would bring the total number of homes passed to between 17 million and 17.5 million. He confirmed during the media briefing that Verizon has no plans to expand its network into areas in which it does not already have franchise agreements in place.