Tellabs Ceases Verizon GPON Efforts; Adtran Adds GPON Option

Bob Wallace, x-Change Magazine

 
Tellabs Inc. said Wednesday it’s ceasing all GPON related activities with Verizon, the same day rival Adtran Inc. added the fiber technology to its widely used Total Access 5000 platform.

Tellabs, which with Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola Inc. has been named Verizon GPON suppliers, release a brief statement saying it will “discontinue current GPON activities focused on Verizon,” citing economic reasons and adding that “this decision serves the best interests of both companies and their respective stakeholders.”

This doesn’t, Tellabs claims, mean it will cease being a supplier to Verizon. “We continue to be a multi-product and services supplier to Verizon. Tellabs will continue its current access strategy, including BPON and GPON.”

The company did not provide additional detail and it remains unclear if there were problems with the Tellabs offering, as had been voiced in an xchangemag.com blog last fall, and it’s uncertain who will fill its void in Verizon’s GPON supplier list. Hitachi Telecom USA Inc. and new entrant Adtran Inc. have been vying for more carrier business in the high-stakes fiber access race.

Verizon said it reached an impasse with Tellabs.

“During a review of the terms of the Tellabs GPON commitment, there was no agreement between the companies on those terms,” said a Verizon spokesperson. “Verizon will continue with it's important GPON deployment using the other two suppliers already identified, Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola, and we continue our supplier relationship with Tellabs for other equipment, including BPON materials.”

The spokesperson did not say if a third supplier, to replace Tellabs, would be added.
 

“I’m unclear on whether there were technical problems,” said Teresa Mastrangelo, principal analyst at Broadbandtrends.com. "It appears to be related to equipment pricing as apparently they were trying to renegotiate their pricing and could not come to an agreement with Verizon.” The ceasing of GPON activities, she claimed, only applies to Tellabs 8865 platform, which was targeted to Verizon, and not GPON on the 1150, which is targeted at everyone else.

The Tellabs news came just hours after Adtran announced GPON support for its Total Access 5000. “For service providers, many who are already Adtran customers, it provides them with another option for FTTH, from a well-established vendor with proven field experience,” said Mastrangelo. “[This year and next] will be critical decision periods for operators to decide the fate of the networks and whether or not to invest in FTTH.”

“For service providers, many who are already Adtran customers, it provides them with another option for FTTH, from a well-established vendor with proven field experience,” said Mastrangelo. “[This year and next] will be critical decision periods for operators to decide the fate of the networks and whether or not to invest in FTTH.”

Adtran’s 5000 uses an Ethernet-based architecture that supports copper and fiber access options.
 

“We believe GPON is the most popular for fiber access going forward,” said Kevin Morgan, marketing director for Adtran’s Carrier Network Division. “It helps bridge the gap for service delivery in access services.”

AT&T and Verizon have already chosen their GPON suppliers, but Adtran is not concerned.

“There are no contracts that are iron clad,” said Martin of its customers’ deals with competing vendors. His belief that the larger opportunity for the 5000 is in greenfields could help as well.

“Although they are later to market than much of their competition, they believe (in their own words) that their GPON solution is hitting the market at the right time. I would agree,” said Mastrangelo.

Others, such as Hitachi Telecom, are also hoping all large customer doors are not closed.

Adtran also has been looking to broaden its horizons well beyond top-tier telcos and large regional providers, according to Morgan. “In the last couple of years, we’ve been trying to expand into non traditional markets like MSOs and utility companies. Knology is our biggest example to date.”

The multiservice abilities of the Total Access 5000 allow for the support of native Ethernet services like GPON from the same platform used to support POTS, DSL, services based on copper bonding technology, ATM and older copper services.

Adtran on Wednesday announced a GPON blade for its Total Access 5000 multi-service and aggregation system that lets carriers support up to 1,500 customers from one chassis.

The GPON module delivers 2.5gbps to each optical line terminal (OLT) port. The 5000 can reside in central offices, and in remote terminals typically located closer to the business or residential customers. It’s shipping now, but Adtran would not divulge pricing.

Mastrangelo called the 5000 one of the most well-rounded multiservice access platforms on the market.

The 5000 features 21 card slots which can support an equal number of OLTs or 42 GPON using a two-port modules. Morgan said its current customers include AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and Embarq as well as regional operators and Knology, a cableco.

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