In the grand course of human history and innovation, 10 years might not sound like a long time. But for the broadband industry, it has been a truly epic decade.
November 21, 2024
Consider that in 2014, fiber optic broadband – or ultra broadband (UBB) as we think of it today – was still really getting off the ground. Today, as we near the close of 2024, ultra broadband is everywhere, and the average speed of broadband packages has increased 100x in that span.
That’s enabling all manner of digital experiences and lifestyles and driving new digital economies around the globe. From an operator’s perspective, ultra broadband has become a rousing commercial success.
How far has UBB come?
In 2014, Gigabit broadband was still something we watched on the horizon with anticipation.
In 2024, there 210 million Gigabit broadband users worldwide, and 10 Gigabit has been fully launched.
In 2014, the industry was still in the planning stages of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and 10G/40G.
In 2024, fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) extends next-generation digital experiences to every room in the home, with 140 400G OTN networks in operation.
The next 10 years promise even more innovation and excitement, as UBB powers the mainstream adoption of AI applications and services, and AI in turn makes UBB networks more dynamic and intelligent.
In particular, UBB leaders like Huawei are enabling an industry-wide evolution from F5G to F5.5G networks, further unlocking the power optical networks and ushering in the AI age.
4 trends shaping F5.5G evolution and the next decade of UBB
Let’s examine some of the key trends and milestones helping to shape the next decade of ultra broadband development.
1. Industry coalesces around standards: During the past couple of years, the industry has been moving toward consensus around F5.5G development and standards, laying an important foundation for future growth. Key milestones include:
2022: ETSI releases the F5G Advanced and Beyond whitepaper.
November 2023: ETSI officially releases the F5G Advanced Generation Definition, which defines six features and introduces fundamental technologies, including FTTR, Wi-Fi 7, 50G PON, 400G/800G OTN, fgOTN, E2E OXC, Alps-WDM (wavelength-shared WDM aggregation).
2022: The World Broadband Association (WBBA) is established and releases the NextGeneration Broadband Roadmap whitepaper.
November 2022: 21 industry partners around the world jointly release the F5G Advanced Industry whitepaper.
December 2023: WBBA releases the Broadband and Cloud Development Index for the first time.
2024: As of the beginning of November, 133 members have joined WBBA, covering more than 30+ countries and regions across five continents.
2. F5.5G 10 Gbps optical networks grow rapidly: These next-gen networks are skyrocketing around the world, and ultra-gigabit networks are expanding commercial deployments.
More than half of global carriers – 59%, or 538 in total – have launched FMC (optical fiber and wireless) services, and FMC multi-service operations have become the norm, with more than 1 billion global fiber broadband users today.
More than 450 carriers have released gigabit packages, and the number of gigabit home broadband users worldwide now exceeds 300 million. Since 2023, the shipments of 10G PON ports have exceeded those of GPON ports, according to Huawei.
Outside China, more than 30 carriers have deployed FTTR into commercial use, and 24 carriers have launched FTTR packages for customers. The number of global FTTR users now exceeds 30 million. Huawei ranks #1 in FTTR market share.
More than 55 carriers worldwide now offer 10 Gbps home broadband packages.
3. Development and deployment of F5.5G all-optical premium network for intelligence accelerates: This upgrade is helping carriers build ultra-broadband, deterministic, low-latency, and highly-reliable WDM networks.
Huawei's 400G solution has been deployed by approximately carriers in more than 70 countries or regions.
OXC has been deployed on more than 100 networks worldwide.
Huawei has launched the industry's first DC-based 100T OTN platform.
Alps-WDM has been deployed by more than 50 carriers worldwide.
More than 500 ASON networks have gone into commercial use, covering more than 300 carriers worldwide.
4. F5.5G for AI and AI for F5.5G: Finally, an F5.5G all-optical target network has been defined and built to enable greater intelligence in the AI age, a boon for mainstream AI adoption and for smarter AI-powered networks.
At its core, this means a 10 Gbps Optical Network combined with an All-Optical Premium Transmission Network. The foundational technologies follow through on the F5G Advanced Generation Definition and include FTTR, Wi-Fi 7, 50G PON, 100G OTN and OXC to metro, and backbone 400G/800G.
This will deliver ubiquitous 10G access, deterministic low-latency (1 ms for metro networks), and 99.9999% backbone reliability. Core solutions include FTTR+X Smart Home Hub, 10 Gbps Intelligent Access Network, One-Hop Metro Transmission Network, and 3D-Mesh Backbone Transmission Network. Major application use cases span virtually every segment, from home to enterprise to machines to computing to sensing.
Looking Ahead to the Future of UBB
For optical transmission, an F5.5G all-optical premium network for intelligence needs to be built, with a 3D-mesh backbone transmission network and a 1 ms one-hop metro transmission network.
For fiber broadband, an FTTR+X smart home hub and a 10 Gbps intelligent access network need to be built to foster the collaborative development of 10 Gbps services and AI applications. Huawei offers three particular advantages here, including the industry's highest-density 50G PON, E2E slicing, and the industry's first 10 Gbps experience management platform.
An FTTR+X smart home hub will enable carriers to add and expand smart home applications and services on FTTR home networks. The brand-new C-WAN 1.5 architecture provides 5G Wi-Fi concurrent rate, delivering 10G to every room and improving the network-wide rate by 70%, according to Huawei.
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