Verizon took another step forward in its plan to begin deploying fiber-to-the-premises systems next year by naming additional passive element FTTP equipment manufacturers and suppliers for the project. The company’s passive element FTTP suppliers will include Corning Cable Systems, a subsidiary of Corning Inc.; ADC; Preformed Line Products Co.; and Tyco Electronics.
They join four other companies that Verizon selected and announced last month: Advanced Fibre Communications Inc. for the central-office electronics; and outside plant suppliers Sumitomo Electric Lightwave, Pirelli Communications Cables and Systems North America, and Fiber Optic Network Solutions (FONS).
Verizon plans to use FTTP technology in more than 100 central offices across nine undisclosed states next year – with at least two test markets in the first half of the year. Verizon has said its PON deployment pace could potentially double in 2005.
Corey Geiger, vice president of marketing for AFC, which is Verizon’s only named vendor for central office and premises optical electronics, or “active” elements, for the PON installation, says that by SUPERCOMM 2004, Verizon “will be viewed as the tip of the spear.” By the June show, he says, both large and small service providers will have announced plans to move from copper-based to fiber-based infrastructure.
