50G-PON Gets Testing Debut at Broadband Forum Interoperability ‘Plugfest'
The latest Broadband Forum 'Plugfest' marked the first time that 50G-PON – or Higher speed (HS-PON) – were tested at the interoperability event series, and the second time for 25GS-PON. The Plugfest was held in conjunction with LANPARK and AT&T Labs ' at the latter's Plano, Texas facility.
Some of the biggest fiber technology vendors gathered to test the interoperability of their PON (Passive Optical Network) equipment with emulated networks. Participating companies included Adtran, Broadcom, Calix, CIG, Cortina Access, Gemtek, Lambda Networks, MT2, Nokia, Sagemcom, and Vantiva.
'It's crucial that the industry prioritizes interoperability, co-existence, and collaboration to help broadband service providers excel with the next generation of PON technologies,' said Broadband Forum CEO Craig Thomas. 'Following the success of the previous Plugfest, it was great to see the industry come together again to advance both 25GS and 50G-PON technologies thanks to the participation of the vendors and involvement of LANPARK and AT&T Labs.'
The aim of the latest Plugfest, part of a multi-year interoperability testing series in laboratories around the world, was to give vendors an opportunity to ensure their equipment is interoperable with and ready to be deployed when connecting homes and businesses to broadband service providers' core networks.
The Plugfests are open to vendors of optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network unit (ONU) equipment, PON chipsets and software stacks, Residential Gateway devices directly incorporating a PON interface, and test and measurement equipment.
'During the Plugfest, AT&T Labs emphasized the importance of interoperability in diverse operator networks to enable a multivendor broadband ecosystem,' said Sumithra Bhojan, Director-Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Labs. 'This is critical as PON technologies evolve. The Broadband Forum plays a key role in fostering collaboration among operators, silicon, optics, software, and equipment suppliers, ensuring seamless integration and innovation across the ecosystem.'
'At each Plugfest, we see significant interoperability improvements between the products presented by manufacturers,' said Thierry Doligez, CEO of LANPARK. 'This demonstrates the importance of these testing events and the relevance of the PON interoperability program conducted by the Broadband Forum.'
25GS-PON TC-PMD Layer was tested for the second time at a Plugfest and, for the first time, 25GS-PON OMCI and 50G-PON TC-PMD Layer was tested – signaling the industry's intent to be prepared to supply future fiber networks. Feedback from participating vendors has been instrumental in refining test plans, organizing future Plugfests, ensuring continued program improvement, and the overall success of the test events.
The next Broadband Forum PON Plugfest will be hosted by the LANPARK Laboratory in Tours, France, from July 7 to 10, 2025. The Plugfest will test XGS-PON, 25GS-PON, and 50G-PON. For more information, visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/event/broadband-forum-pon-plugfest-at-lanparks-laboratory-july-7th-10th-2025.
The following event will be hosted by The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) from October 6-10, 2025. For more information, visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/event/broadband-forum-pon-plugfest.
About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum is an industry-driven global standards development organization helping operators, application providers, and vendors deliver better, services-led broadband. As the industry-recognized center of competence, the Broadband Forum provides an accessible, efficient, and effective community where all broadband stakeholders can collaborate on, develop, and promote open standards and open software. This provides the basis for deployable solutions for the global broadband industry.
The forum publishes interoperable standards and open software, has launched certification programs, and promotes industry education. These best practices and models can be adopted to help realize an effective broadband ecosystem that drives a thriving, services-led broadband industry based on global collaboration, open standards, and open source, maximizing value for all stakeholders.
For more information, visit https://www.broadband-forum.org/. For the latest updates, follow Broadband Forum on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
About LANPARK
LANPARK is an independent laboratory located in Tours, France, specialized in conformance, interoperability and coexistence tests of devices deployed by telecom operators in the access network (PON), by DSOs in Smartgrids, smart gas & water grids networks using powerline or RF communications (G3, Wize), and by the industry for CCTV (PowerEOC). With many OLT brands installed in its labs, LANPARK offers on-demand test services dedicated to PON network operators, addressing their needs in terms of qualification and interoperability tests for each specific network they operate. LANPARK is a Broadband Forum's Approved Test Laboratory, accredited to conduct the worldwide recognized BBF.247 certification tests for G-PON, XG-PON and XGS-PON terminals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
5 hours ago
- Business Wire
Terra Firma Energy Welcome UK Government Consultation on Hydrogen Blending into Great Britains Gas Transmission Network
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At Terra Firma Energy, we welcome the UK Government's consultation into the blending of Hydrogen into Britain's Gas Transmission Network as a timely and positive step forward for both the UK's decarbonisation goals and the future of flexible power generation. All our projects are engineered to be hydrogen-ready from the outset, ensuring long-term operational flexibility and resilience in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. By anticipating changes in fuel supply and regulatory frameworks, we have future-proofed our generation assets to adapt quickly to low-carbon solutions like hydrogen blending. The ability to support hydrogen integration, even at early-stage blend levels, reinforces our commitment to sustainable innovation and positions our portfolio to contribute meaningfully to a net zero grid. Terra Firma Energy welcome UK Government Consultation on Hydrogen Blending into Great Britains Gas Transmission Network. Share The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched a new consultation exploring the potential for blending low-carbon hydrogen into Great Britain's gas transmission network. Following previous consultations on hydrogen blending into local distribution networks, the government is now seeking views on whether introducing hydrogen at the transmission level - the high-pressure National Transmission System (NTS) - could offer strategic and economic value. A Step Toward Net Zero Hydrogen is seen as a key player in the UK's push to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Blending low-carbon hydrogen with natural gas could offer a transitional path, supporting early-stage hydrogen production while reducing the carbon intensity of the existing gas network. DESNZ is currently evaluating whether to enable blending of up to 2% hydrogen by volume into the NTS. This small percentage could act as an 'off-taker of last resort' for hydrogen producers, providing a backup market when dedicated customers are not available. Balancing Innovation with Risk The consultation outlines both the potential benefits and challenges. While hydrogen blending could support the growth of the hydrogen economy and help manage electricity system constraints, it also raises concerns for industrial users connected to the transmission system. Many of these users rely on stable, high-quality gas supplies, and even a 2% hydrogen blend could affect equipment performance, increase costs, or require infrastructure upgrades. Terra Firma Energy have been proactive in ensuring all our projects have been built utilising hydrogen ready generation sets that can accommodate a 20% blend of hydrogen into the network. Studies cited in the consultation show that most transmission-connected users could technically handle a 2% blend with minimal changes, though feasibility studies and equipment modifications may still be necessary. At higher blends (5% or 20%), the risks and costs escalate significantly. Cross-Border Considerations The UK's ability to blend hydrogen is also influenced by developments in the EU. Under the EU Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Package, Member States can blend up to 2% hydrogen by volume, but are not required to do so. This creates potential interoperability issues with the UK's gas inter-connectors to Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands - especially if hydrogen blends exceed that threshold.
Business Insider
18 hours ago
- Business Insider
5 things the AT&T CEO's sweeping memo says about where corporate America is headed
CEOs are done mincing words. AT&T CEO John Stankey didn't hold back in a Friday message to managers at the 140,000-person company: "Commit to adjusting your own behaviors." Stankey's message comes about seven months after the company issued a strict return-to-office mandate and amid what the CEO described as a longer-term cultural shift underway. The 2,500-word memo is a rare and detailed window into a CEO's thinking during a period of transition. It offers valuable insight for workers beyond just AT&T employees and reveals how a large, legacy company is working to adapt and innovate. Business Insider published the full 2,500-word memo here. Here are our top five takeaways on how Stankey's message reflects broader shifts in corporate culture. CEOs are done sugarcoating change The tone of Stankey's memo is direct, reflecting a broader shift in how corporate executives are communicating to staff. "If a self-directed, virtual, or hybrid work schedule is essential for you to manage your career aspirations and life challenges, you will have a difficult time aligning your priorities with those of the company and the culture we aim to establish," Stankey wrote. This sort of candid communication has become increasingly common among executives as they work to make change, whether return-to-office mandates or efforts to adapt to AI. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told his employees in 2023 that if they didn't embrace working in the office, they may not have a future at the company. "It's past the time to disagree and commit," he said at the time. "And if you can't disagree and commit, I also understand that, but it's probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week, and it's not right for all of our teammates to be in three days a week and for people to refuse to do so." Jassy later expanded the mandate to five days a week. More recently, Jassy didn't hold back in a memo posted to the company's website in June. He said workers should expect AI to impact staffing levels. "In the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company," he said. Company culture is no longer about loyalty, tenure, or family. It's about performance. AT&T is a nearly 150-year-old company that has long embodied a culture that celebrates loyalty and tenure. Focus on those values, however, is a thing of the past, Stankey said. He was upfront about this change in Friday's memo. "This shift can be characterized as moving away from an orientation on hierarchy and familial cultural norms and towards a more externally focused and competitive market-based culture," Stankey said. The shift reflects the performance vibe that has become so prominent in Silicon Valley in the last year. Amy Coleman, Microsoft's chief people officer, wrote in a message to managers in April that the company was introducing new tools to improve performance management. "Today, we're rolling out new and enhanced tools to help you accelerate high performance and swiftly address low performance," she wrote. "Our goal is to create a globally consistent and transparent experience for employees and managers (subject to local laws and consultation). These tools will also help foster a culture of accountability and growth by enabling you to address performance challenges with clarity and empathy." Stankey said performance would be employees' best metric for longevity at the company moving forward, and encouraged staff to get on board. "I know change like this is difficult and can be unsettling for some. However, as General Eric Shinseki so eloquently stated, 'If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more.'" Employees need to carry their own weight, and management is watching In this new era at AT&T, managers will have a new tool for evaluating whether employees are really meeting the demands of their job: data. "In addition to information garnered from performance reviews, peer feedback, assessments, work history, and certifications (to name a few), we analyze patterns of behaviors from broad cohorts (aggregated data)," Stankey wrote. "This allows leaders to identify behaviors that are obvious outliers, supplemented with the broadest set of information available, to determine if the behavior being evaluated is consistent with our stated priorities and employment expectations." Outliers in the data will be identified and dealt with, he said. "Addressing these exceptions is important to ensure we're fair to the vast majority of employees who support their colleagues and deliver for the organization every day," Stankey said. Amazon took a different approach to the same goal by cutting down on managers to "flatten" the organization and push individuals to pull their weight. "If we do this work well, it will increase our teammates' ability to move fast, clarify and invigorate their sense of ownership, drive decision-making closer to the front lines where it most impacts customers (and the business), decrease bureaucracy, and strengthen our organizations' ability to make customers' lives better and easier every day," Jassy said. Some companies see returning to the office as necessary to compete Stankey said AT&T's push for change is driven by "efforts that require inter-departmental collaboration and coordination." That's because "collaboration and predictable presence improve each team's ability to execute effectively on large, complex projects," he said. To achieve that, employees must "work in person, together, during common hours." The idea that working together in an office is ultimately better for the company's success is a growing belief among executives. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol told staff in an email last month that returning to the office allows employees to "share ideas more effectively, creatively solve hard problems, and move much faster." "We understand not everyone will agree with this approach," Niccol wrote. "But as a company built on human connection, and given the scale of the turnaround ahead, we believe this is the right path for Starbucks." Returning to the office isn't always without its problems Some employees previously told Business Insider that AT&T's return-to-office push has caused some practical problems, including a lack of desks and parking spaces. One employee at the company's Atlanta office said the company's working environment had "deteriorated" as more employees returned. Two others said finding parking in a timely manner had been a challenge for themselves and for colleagues. Stankey addressed these complaints in his message in a section titled "Capabilities to do your job." He wrote, "You deserve tools, processes, and capabilities that help you serve our customers effectively, without being hindered by internal process friction or system constraints." Dell faced similar issues following its own return-to-office mandate, which CEO Michel Dell issued in January. When the mandate took effect in March, it caused "lots of in-office politics," one program manager at the company told Business Insider.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
UnitedHealth Group Announces Changes to Leadership Team
July 31, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) today announced Wayne S. DeVeydt has been appointed its chief financial officer, effective September 2, 2025. John F. Rex, who joined the company in 2012 and has been CFO since 2016, will become strategic advisor to the CEO on the same date. "Wayne DeVeydt combines deep financial acumen and operating experience with the mission-oriented and compassionate approach to health care that is a perfect fit for UnitedHealth Group," said Stephen J. Hemsley, company chairman and chief executive officer. "John Rex has been an exceptional leader, having helped guide our company through substantial change with both strategic vision and strong commitment to our mission," said Hemsley. "I look forward to his continued insights as UnitedHealth Group moves forward." DeVeydt, 55, most recently has been a managing director and operating partner at Bain Capital, working with client leaders on operational improvement and growth acceleration. From 2018-2020, he was chairman and CEO of Surgery Partners, Inc. in Nashville, expanding the operational scale and financial performance of the surgical services firm. He joined Anthem, Inc. (now Elevance) in 2005 and served as its chief financial officer from 2007 to 2016. Prior to joining Anthem, DeVeydt served as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, with a focus on the health care sector. "There is no organization besides UnitedHealth Group that presents the kinds of opportunities to make a difference in health care, from individual patient care to broad system efficiency, so I am eagerly looking forward to joining the team," said DeVeydt. "I've been fortunate to know John Rex for over two decades and am honored to follow a leader of his caliber." Rex, 63, joined UnitedHealth Group as chief financial officer of the company's then newly established Optum business and previously had spent his career focused in health care across multiple roles and sectors. "This pivotal moment for UnitedHealth Group is the right time for a new yet greatly experienced executive like Wayne DeVeydt, and I look forward to supporting him and the entire leadership team while continuing to advise on a range of matters," said Rex. About UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group is a health care and well-being company with a mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone through two distinct and complementary businesses. Optum delivers care aided by technology and data, empowering people, partners and providers with the guidance and tools they need to achieve better health. UnitedHealthcare offers a full range of health benefits, enabling affordable coverage, simplifying the health care experience and delivering access to high-quality care. Visit UnitedHealth Group at and follow UnitedHealth Group on LinkedIn. View source version on Contacts Media: uhgmedia@ UnitedHealth Group Media Sign in to access your portfolio
