To GPON or WDM PON, That Is the Question

Implications: With Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson leading the way in sales of Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) gear to the major RBOCs and others, is the technology going to stay for awhile, or is Wave Division Multiplexing-Passive Optical Networking (WDM-PON) the next technology to watch?  Nokia could become number 4 in GPON sales, but perhaps they want to be number 1 in the newer technology.

Analysis: This article is primarily an attention-getter and perhaps a little monitor time should be spent on the four or five links posted in the article on WDM-PON, learning some more about the latest technology on the grid.  It appears that Nokia Siemens has decided to back away from the development of GPON, but will support current sales.  This is an unusual stance for a Tier 1 vendor of boxes to back away from current technology.  The article also mentions XL or "Long Reach" technology that will support FTTX customers from 100 kilometers away.  Nokia has a 56% interest in Dasan Networks Inc, an access and optical equipment specialist company, so perhaps this company has some new twists none of us know about yet.  Time for some research.