Get ready for a GPON explosion, because that's what's likely at next week's Broadband World Forum Europe event in Paris (Sept. 7-9). (See Looking for Broadband's Missing Link at BBWF.)

Based on company announcements and the show guide, it looks like the range of technology coverage at the annual show is getting broader this year, with a much greater emphasis on mobile broadband, particularly Long Term Evolution (LTE), than at previous BBWF events. (See NEC Shows Off LTE at BBWF.)

But the topic de semaine looks set to be Passive Optical Network (PON), and GPON in particular. (See Who Makes What: GPON & WDM-PON Equipment.)

According to the recent Heavy Reading report, "FTTH Review & Five-Year Forecast: The Road to Next-Gen PON," Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), with its "strong position in the U.S.," and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , which has had "many wins in developing markets," are the leading GPON vendors, with Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX), Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) cited as "significant" players. (See Fiber, Fiber Everywhere….)

Expect key announcements at BBWF from some of these GPON systems vendors, as well as the broadband access component companies: Chip vendor Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) announced its entry into the sector in advance of the show. (See Broadcom Unveils GPON Chips.)

Other flavors of PON are also set to feature prominently, particularly the pre-standard technologies WDM-PON and 10GPON, both of which we expect to feature in the "Fixed Access" category of our Light Reading Top Picks 2009 industry recognition program. (See LR Top Picks Program Launches, Fixed Access, and GPON Gets a 10G Look.)

Two of WDM-PON's most prominent supporters, ADVA Optical Networking and LG-Ericsson Co. Ltd. , will be updating on their progress, while South Korea's Solid Technologies Inc. will be showing off its new system, which, it claims, can deliver "16 WDM channels of GbE [Gigabit Ethernet] over a single fiber core up to more than 40km." (See LG-Nortel Extends WDM-PON Distribution, Partners in WDM-PON, Solid Adds WDM-PON, WDM-PON Update, The Price of WDM-PON, ADVA Unleashes WDM-PON, and ZTE Tackles Opex, WDM-PON.)

Show-floor chatter will certainly include speculation about potential bidders for Nortel's stake in the LG-Ericsson Co. Ltd. joint venture. (See AlcaLu Eyes LG-Nortel .)

The event will also feature news and updates about: the latest VDSL2 developments; home networking; policy control and other application management techniques; various broadband-related applications such as IPTV; test and measurement developments; and Telco 2.0 initiatives, as service delivery platform and new-generation OSS deployments evolve to meet carriers' network and services transformation requirements.

Oh, and, just like last year, amazing coffee at the Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd. booth. (See Fujitsu Wins Key Battle.)

Here's a rundown of some of the companies showing off their latest wares in Paris:

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading