Nokia launches Gigabit Connect To Simplify Gigabit Broadband Installation In Apartment Blocks

• Gigabit Connect enables plug-and-play fiber services over existing in-building cabling
• The solution improves the business case for operators expanding fiber into hard-to-connect multi-dwelling-units (MDUs or apartment blocks) to deliver gigabit broadband to more customers
• Gigabit Connect hides the complexity of G.fast, allowing management of the last leg connection as a fiber endpoint

Nokia has launched Gigabit Connect to make it easier for fiber network providers to deploy gigabit broadband services in MDUs where the final connection leg is via twisted pair or coaxial cables.

Fiber providers often encounter difficulties in bringing fiber all the way to every apartment in residential buildings. The age of the building can mean there is a lack of space or in-built ducting, or legal issues might constrain the deployment. G.fast technologies can help by enabling operators to terminate the fiber in a central location in the building and then bridging it to any existing television, data, or telephone cables for the last leg.

Nokia’s Gigabit Connect solution builds on G.fast capabilities, hiding its complexity and enabling the last leg connection to be managed as a fiber endpoint under a single pane of the glass management interface. This is especially important for operators who focus on fiber-only deployment and who do not have expertise with technologies over copper twisted pair. Gigabit Connect can be deployed with no impact on existing network management and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) services.

Gigabit Connect solution also delivers the same speed and low-latency experience for the end-user as full FTTH.

Sandy Motley, President, Fixed Networks at Nokia, said: “We estimate that 20% of MDUs are challenging for new fiber installations. Using G.fast over a building’s existing cables goes a long way to solving the problem, but it can be a challenge for operators to build expertise in new technologies. With Gigabit Connect, we are hiding the complexity, enabling plug-and-play fiber deployment and ongoing management as with any normal fiber line. Furthermore, consumers will experience the same speed and low-latency performance as standard fiber.”

Pan Dacom Networking AG is deploying Nokia’s Lightspan SX G.fast distribution point units (DPUs) and Altiplano Network Management System for their fiber customer R-Kom to connect 4,000 buildings in Eastern Bavaria, Germany.

Thomas Klein, Head of Sales & Technology Competence Center from Pan Dacom Networking, said: “We are using G.fast for the last drop and use zero-touch provisioning with SDAN (Software Defined Access Networks). Nokia’s solution extends what can be done with SDAN and has helped reduce deployment times by 50% with configuration from the cloud.” Alfred Rauscher, Managing Director from R-KOM added: “Thanks to Nokia’s scalable and future-proof solution, thousands of Bavarians living in previous fiber no-go homes can now look forward to gigabit broadband.”

According to Dell’Oro, G.fast connections are set to more than double by 2025.

Source: Nokia