OREANDA-NEWS. As Verizon advances toward implementing new technology on its fiber optic infrastructure, the company has reached a critical juncture in its RFP (Request For Proposals) process by tapping two companies to begin testing NG-PON2 (next generation passive optical network) equipment in Verizon’s Innovation Lab in Waltham, Mass.

Starting this month, Verizon will begin initial testing with equipment from Ericsson (in partnership with Calix) and ADTRAN. Testing will focus on several features of NG-PON2, including tuning performance, ability to carry residential and business services on the same platform, and interoperability and conformance testing to meet Verizon ONT specifications.

“When it comes to NG-PON2, ADTRAN and Ericsson/Calix have developed new designs and some novel, yet different, approaches that put them at the forefront of the industry,” said Vincent O’Byrne, Ph.D., director of network planning for Verizon.

Verizon is assessing this next-generation technology to provide increased speeds and functionality to customers on its Fios network. NG-PON2 technology supports up to 40G of total capacity and up to 10G speeds per customer, both upstream and downstream, over a single fiber – a tenfold increase over some of the current speeds in the industry. Using NG-PON2 technology, the company plans to initially deploy a number of business services in 2017, followed by residential services as the technology matures and the market demands.