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

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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