One of the leading Central European cable and satellite operators has successfully completed the testing of a hybrid last-mile broadband solution jointly provided by digital transformation leader Iskratel and Teleste, a specialist in broadband video and data communication systems and services.
Combining Iskratel’s GPON technology with Teleste’s DOCSIS-based mini-CMTS – the DOCSIS Access Hub (DAH) – the solution creates a fast and economical way for the operator to deliver gigabit broadband and new revenue-generating services to its customers. The operator will now deploy the solution across its network, utilising its existing coax cabling as an extension of its fibre network.
The operator chose Iskratel’s and Teleste’s solution due to it meeting rising consumer demand for gigabit speeds while still ensuring cost-effective network upgrades. With the GPON-DOCSIS solution, the operator can reuse existing in-house coaxial cabling and enhance multi-gigabit networks, delivering the same gigabit speeds of fibre but without the heavy investment and disruption that comes with laying Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH).
“When it comes to upgrading networks, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach and in Europe there are many places where FTTH is just not possible,” said Simon Čimžar, Chief Solutions Architect at Iskratel. “In these cases, our GPON/DOCSIS hybrid solution delivers fibre-level speeds and offers a clear roadmap towards symmetrical 10 Gbps services.”
Operators can utilise Iskratel’s SI3000 Lumia GPON Optical Line Terminal and Teleste’s DAH as a GPON Access Hub in a truly plug-and-play way to triple-play services. One DAH makes it possible to bring the IP network to every apartment in a building using the existing coax cabling – once a DOCSIS cable modem has been connected to the network, the services start running immediately.
“We see distributed access architectures as a viable option for operators who wish to invest in next-generation broadband services. Hybrid fibre-coax infrastructure allows operators to expand their gigabit broadband services to their customers with lower costs and shorter time of deployment compared to full fibre infrastructures,” said Olli Leppänen, Vice President of Distributed Access for Teleste.