The Broadband Forum today welcomes NG-PON2 Forum members, integrating the NG-PON2 Forum to create the new NG-PON2 Council, which will aim to accelerate the development of NG-PON2 technology as it continues to gain momentum.

Over the last 12 months, the Broadband Forum has been increasingly focused on NG-PON2 through its Fiber Access Networks Working Group. That work is a solid basis to take NG-PON2 to the next level with the founding of the NG-PON2 Council. The Broadband Forum believes, in addition to work on management and testing standards, industry stakeholders need to understand the capabilities of the technology and how it could help support ultrafast broadband roll-out.

"Having fostered the NG-PON2 Forum from its infancy to its leadership position today, as a premier assembly of vendors and service providers looking to widen the scope and broaden the market of NG-PON2 technology, I am thrilled to see the NG-PON2 Forum moving to the next level by becoming part of the Broadband Forum," said Bernd Hesse, NG-PON2 Forum Founder and President, newly appointed Chair of the NG-PON2 Council, and Senior Director of Technology Development at Calix.

"The focus of the NG-PON2 Forum was always to accelerate the adoption of the technology, a mission that can only be helped by the Broadband Forum's breadth of membership and stellar reputation in the industry.  As the NG-PON2 Forum now becomes the NG-PON2 Council under the Broadband Forum umbrella, I'm proud to still be leading this Council and look forward to informing the world of the boundless possibilities of this exciting technology."  

This integration comes at the same time as operators begin to show increasing interest in the technology. At the recent FTTH Council Conference 2017, it was noted that several operators are conducting lab or field trials, aiming for deployments in the near future. Northpower Fibre announced that it held the world's first NG-PON2 demonstration in a live network, delivering 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) speeds over multiple wavelengths to hubs located in a business premises and residential home in Whangarei, New Zealand. 

Dr. Vincent O'Byrne, Director of Technology at Verizon and NG-PON2 Forum board member, said: "I see the move of the NG-PON2 Forum into the Broadband Forum as recognition that not only is NG-PON2 technology a maturing technology, but of the industry's interest in seeing NG-PON2 succeed. Establishing the NG-PON2 Council is an important milestone and a meaningful step for NG-PON2 and the industry."

The NG-PON2 Council will work under the banner of the Broadband Forum, providing greater access to the Broadband Forum's wide range of member operators and vendors. The integration will be finalized after the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) in Los Angeles, where the NG-PON2 Forum will hold a workshop session.

Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh said: "NG-PON2 is at a crucial stage with significant moves beginning to be made by operators in terms of deployments. Ultrafast access is a key component in the future of broadband and NG-PON2 has a role to play in delivering it. The Broadband Forum sees education and positioning for the technology as a key step in its evolution."

Source: Broadband Forum media announcement