Association for

Passive Optical LAN

Passive Optical LAN: State of the

Market and What it Means to
You
May 23, 2018
 Agenda
 Alan Bertsch, APOLAN Board Chairman
 Alan will act as the moderator for this information webinar and provide an update on APOLAN efforts
to provide education and advocation for the global adoption of Passive Optical Networking.

 Martin Chiesa, Senior Market Research Consultant, BSRIA

 Martin will provide an external and independent BSRIA view of the POL technology and its market as
well as a brief history of Passive Optical LAN technology and where it is gaining market traction
compared to conventional copper local area networks design.

 Ian Keene, Vice President, Gartner Research

 Ian will explain how infrastructure and operations leaders can assess Gartner use case to determine if
a Passive Optical LAN is a viable alternative to the traditional structured cabling and Ethernet network
when new LAN cabling infrastructure is needed.

 John Hoover, APOLAN Board Director

 John will present the findings of a market study by Hanover Research regarding awareness,
perception as well as common misconceptions of Passive Optical LAN technology.

 Q&A

www.apolanglobal.org 2
 APOLAN Update

Alan Bertsch
APOLAN Board Chair

www.apolanglobal.org 3
What is APOLAN?
The Association for Passive Optical LAN is a non-profit
organization composed of manufacturers,
distributors, integrators, and consulting companies
who are actively involved in the Passive Optical LAN
marketplace.

Mission:
The Association for Passive Optical LAN advocates the
education and global adoption of passive optical
networks for the local area network marketplace.

www.apolanglobal.org 4
What’s new for the year 2018?

2M 18 Published Reaching

Estimated Online Readership

Articles
and News
Releases
1000+
with Webinars

Newsletter

1000+
300+
education
Trained BICSI CEC
New 8
Members!

www.apolanglobal.org 5
 BSRIA Market View

Martin Chiesa
BSRIA

www.apolanglobal.org 6
 About BSRIA
• BSRIA is a consultancy, test and research association, founded in UK in 1955
• More than 200 employees with a depth of expertise across all industry sectors
• Unique blend of technical and marketing capability
• Fully independent from private capital. Profits are reinvested into research
programmes.
• Independence = objective approach and authoritative reports
• Offices in UK, USA, China, France and Spain.

Association for Passive Optical LAN 7

 POL Architecture
• Point to multi-point architecture
• Signal transmitted from centralised
switch – OLT, containing several
optical ports.
• Signal is transmitted using single-
mode fibre and then split using
passive optical multiplexers (no
electronics, no power & no cooling,
required + 90% space savings).
• Once split, each resulting fibres is
then connected to an ONT.
• ONTs convert light pulses into electric
signals, connecting the end devices Distance between OLT and ONT up to 60km*
(with copper cable) and most can
also power them (PoE capability). Source: BSRIA

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 POL Architecture
ONT1
WDM

• Downstream traffic between OLT and Copper cables

ONTs uses wavelength division OLT 1:32
to end devices
multiplexing (WDM)
• Upstream (ONT to OLT) traffic is Downstream wavelengths
ONT32
Upstream wavelengths
managed using Time-Division-
Multiple-Access (TDMA).
TDMA
• Two commercially available options
POL (ITU-T G.984) offers 2.4Gb
downstream and 1.2Gb upstream
and XGS-PON (G.9807) that delivers
10 Gb/s in both directions.

= time allocated to an ONT

Source: BSRIA

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 Traditional LAN vs POL
Traditional LAN Passive Optical LAN
Centralised
provisioning &
Campus aggregation management

Building aggregation
Passive
optical
network
Distance limitations Distance limitations
Communication closet
MMF - 500m SMF - Up to 60km
Copper - 100m

• High capacity OLTs (connecting up to 17,000 ONTs) and transmitting over single-mode fibre
make it possible to serve and manage an entire campus from a central location.

Association for Passive Optical LAN 10

 Traditional LAN vs POL
Traditional LAN Passive Optical LAN
Centralised
provisioning &
Campus aggregation management

Building aggregation
Passive
optical
splitters
Distance limitations Distance limitations
Communication closet
MMF - 500m SMF - Up to 60km
Copper - 100m

• Small, unpowered passive optical splitters replace switches at building aggregation

level and on every level (in each computer room), introducing important CapEx savings
(active components, dedicated power & cooling equipment at each level).

Association for Passive Optical LAN 11

 POL Advantages
• Up to 90% saving in space
• Capital expenditure savings
• Operational expenditure savings
• Scalability and future proof
• Security

Association for Passive Optical LAN 12

POL Main Verticals
Although fit for almost any LAN application,
POL is particularly suitable for :
• Installations with long distances between
core switches and the network’s edge
• Campus applications
• Installations requiring higher levels of
security
• Large installations (several thousand ports)
• Installations with a high density of nodes
per room/area
• Installations where there are space
constraints
• Installations in environments with high
levels of electromagnetic interference
Source: BSRIA

Association for Passive Optical LAN 13

POL Projects by Size
• POL is becoming an increasingly
competitive option
• When deploying POL, savings
are directly proportional to the
size of the project yet:
– A fifth of all projects are small
to medium size
– Almost half of all projects are
below 1024 ports

Source: BSRIA

Association for Passive Optical LAN 14

 POL Expected Market Growth
2015 Scenarios (exceeded):
• Niche: 12% CAGR Previous scenarios and current forecast
• slow evolution
• same players
• low awareness

• Slow adoption: 22% CAGR

• rising sales, promotion & awareness
• new players entering the market.
• Decreasing costs

• Fast adoption: 45% CAGR

• Rising number of market
players(particularly large active
component manufacturers).
• Rising consumer awareness due to
increased marketing efforts Source: BSRIA
• Growing installer base.

Association for Passive Optical LAN 15

Thank you

Association for Passive Optical LAN 16

 Gartner Use Case Study

Ian Keene
Gartner Research

www.apolanglobal.org 17
What Gartner clients ask

Does Passive Optical LAN Have a Future in

Your Access Network?
Published: 14 March 2018 ID: G00320069
Analyst(s): Ian Keene, Mark Fabbi

Passive optical LAN can be an alternative to the traditional structured

cabling and Ethernet network when new LAN cabling infrastructure is
needed. However, infrastructure and operations leaders must carefully
assess their use case to determine if passive optical network is a viable
alternative.

www.apolanglobal.org 18
Key Challenges
■ Deploying cost-effective access layer solutions that have
expected life spans of 10 years or
more.
■ Controlling the cost of operating access networks given the
proliferation of mobile and Internet
of Things (IoT) related devices.
■ Delivering on the power requirements for a growing diversity of
endpoint devices.

Association for Passive Optical LAN 19

Recommendations
Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders responsible for building and
sustaining dependable network infrastructure should:

■ Performa thorough analysis of existing and future requirements for access

networking prior to embarking on a rebuild of their physical and access layer
network architecture.

■ Evaluate passive optical network (PON) as an alternative to traditional

structured cabling and Ethernet infrastructure only when embarking on a
"greenfield" or "stripped bare" building
refresh.

Association for Passive Optical LAN 20

 Hanover Research
Passive Optical LAN Survey

John Hoover
APOLAN Board Chair

www.apolanglobal.org 21
Hanover Research
Passive Optical LAN Survey October 2017 commissioned by Tellabs

• Who is Hanover
– Custom research solutions
– 200 Plus Analysts

• Real research – Not an internet poll

– Qualified participants
– Statistically significant sample size Hanover Research
commissioned by

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 Refresh and Replacement Projects

What is replaced? Replacement Rate

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%100% 0% 20% 40% 60%

89% Every 2 years or less 18%

Routers

86% Every 3 to 5 years 61%

Switches

Wireless Access… 78% Every 6 to 8 years 17%

Cabling &… 57% Every 9 years or… 4%

Powering Equipment 44%

Hanover Research
commissioned by

www.apolanglobal.org 23
Appeal of Fiber vs. Copper

2 Not at all appealing 2%

10 Slightly Appealing 10% 10%
29 Somewhat Appealing
29%
49 Very Appealing 49%
10 Extremely Appealing

Hanover Research
commissioned by

www.apolanglobal.org 24
Market Familiarity with POL

I have never heard of

17 POL Technology.
17%
I have heard of POL 44%
39 Technology, but am not
familiar with it.
39%
I have heard of POL
44 Technology, and I am
familiar with it.

Hanover Research
commissioned by

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 Knowledge sources for POL
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Internet websites 49%

Word-of-mouth (friends, colleagues,… 41%

Equipment manufacturer sales… 34%

Consultant/Architect/Engineer 34%

Trade show 30%

Reseller sales representatives 24%

Social media (LinkedIn, Twitter,… 23%

Email 13%

Hanover Research
commissioned by

www.apolanglobal.org 26
POL Sentiments

Concerning Factors
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Cost 63%
Reliability 43%
Product Quality 42%
Durability 40%
Security 39%
Maintenance 38%
Equipment powering 35%
Longevity 35%
Ease of Use 34%
Space savings 32%
Ease of Installation 31%
Centralized Management 28% Hanover Research
commissioned by

www.apolanglobal.org 27
POL Sentiments

Appealing Factors
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Product Quality 86%

Reliability 83%
Longevity 81%
Centralized Management 77%
Safety 75%
Ease of Use 74%
Maintenance 70%
Durability 69%
Ease of Installation 69%
Equipment powering 67%
Space savings 62%
Hanover Research
Cost 49% commissioned by

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Survey Demographics

Years in IT Field Age

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
1-4 Years 6% 25-34 Years 11%
5-9 Years 18% 35-44 Years 39%
10-19 Years 37% 45-54 Years 21%
20-29 Years 27% 55-64 Years 22%
30+ Years 9% 65+ Years 6%

Decision-making Role
Female
0% 10%20%30%40%50% 19%

Primary Decision Maker 47%

Male
Share decision-making… 33% 81%
Participant 19%
Hanover Research
commissioned by

www.apolanglobal.org 29
Questions?

 Martin Chiesa, Senior Market Research Consultant, BSRIA

 BSRIA view of the POL technology and its market as well as a brief history.

 Ian Keene, Vice President, Gartner Research

 How infrastructure and operations leaders can assess Gartner use case to determine if
a Passive Optical LAN is a viable alternative.

 John Hoover, APOLAN Board Director

 Hanover Research regarding awareness, perception as well as common
misconceptions of Passive Optical LAN technology.

If you have any questions, please send email to:

contact@apolanglobal.org

www.apolanglobal.org 30