Espoo, Finland – Nokia has today announced the Lightspan SF-8M, a new addition to its market-leading, high-performance fiber broadband portfolio that can be deployed anywhere in the outside plant. The Lightspan SF-8M support both GPON and XGS-PON and will support 25G PON.

The new solution will enable cable operators to quickly respond to rapidly increasing competition from both established telcos and new operators. With the capacity to support a wide range of speeds, cable operators can now better address end user requirements and deliver line rates of 2.5 Gb/s or 10 Gb/s today and seamlessly evolve to 25 Gb/s in the future. The sealed remote Optical Line Terminal (OLT) comes with flexible powering options, including power-over-coax making the unit particularly suitable for cable operators.

Jeff Heynen, VP Broadband Access and Home Networking, Dell’Oro, said “A growing number of MSOs are moving ahead with strategic fiber network buildouts as they wait on DOCSIS 4.0 product availability. These MSOs are relying heavily on remote OLTs, which give them the flexibility to deliver fiber from existing node locations. In fact, Dell’Oro Group is projecting global remote OLT revenue to grow to over $100M by 2026.”

Lightspan SF-8M will provide deployment flexibility with gigabit and multi-gigabit services. The unit’s IP-67-rated sealed enclosure enables installation anywhere in the outside plant, on a strand, inside or outside a cabinet, or on a pole or wall.

Mark Klimek, Business Center Lead for North America, Nokia Fixed Networks said: “In a highly competitive world, cable operators need to find cost-effective solutions to increase speed and performance. Next-generation fiber upgrades are happening three years sooner than expected. The Lightspan SF-8M provides the perfect solution for cable operators that want to quickly increase capacity and flexibly migrate to fiber-to-the-home.”

According to Dell’Oro, Nokia was the 2021 market share leader for XGS-PON equipment, today’s gold-standard for fiber broadband, Seven out of 10 fiber homes in the USA are served using Nokia FTTH kit.