Frontier Communications is looking to raise the bar on broadband.

The operator said Thursday that it is the first in North America to demonstrate 100G broadband network speeds in a demo conducted with Nokia.

The trial, underpinned by Nokia's MF Fiber PON platform, shows how a mix of passive optical network (PON) technologies – 100G, 50G, 25G and 10G – can be delivered on a single strand of fiber on Frontier's network, according to the companies.

Frontier's expanding fiber network supports 10G and in some markets 25G PON. The operator's top broadband tier for residential customers currently tops out at 8 Gbit/s.

Frontier and Nokia are conducting the 100G trial at Frontier's fiber innovation lab and on a production fiber network in Lewisville, Texas. Notably, the Lewisville portion of the test was conducted over a stretch of about 12 kilometers on fiber that's been in use since about 2005.

Frontier stressed that support for new generation PON technologies uses the same fiber infrastructure and requires changes only in the optics on either end of the network.

PON optionality

Adoption of 50G PON and 100G PON would set the stage for operators such as Frontier to deliver speeds up to about 50 Gbit/s and 80 Gbit/s, respectively – possibly even higher as the technologies mature.

Frontier has not announced when it might move ahead with commercial use of 50G or 100G PON technologies but said it now has the flexibility to do so when the time is right.

"We are constantly evaluating how the needs of our customers and the power of innovation will drive our network. These tests confirm that we have ultimate flexibility and optionality as it relates to our technology roadmap," Veronica Bloodworth, EVP and chief network officer at Frontier, said in an emailed response to questions from Light Reading. "This also confirms that the investments we have made over the last two decades and investments we will make in the coming years will help us maintain our competitive advantage."

Nokia and NBN have conducted similar demonstrations in Australia. Nokia recently connected with Google Fiber to trial 50G PON technology in the Kansas City area.

Nokia has "additional [100G PON] trials planned with other global operators later this year," Stefaan Vanhastel, VP of marketing and innovation, Nokia Fixed Networks, said in an emailed statement.

Additionally, Nokia's 25G PON gear is being installed and tested in the labs of more than 50 operators worldwide, he added.

Frontier is working on the second part of its plan to upgrade fiber to about 10 million locations. It has another 5 million locations in a "Wave 3" footprint deemed less attractive to build to than the current buildout target. Frontier might explore Wave 3 buildouts with partnerships, joint ventures and potential subsidies.