New things are happening and probably take time to become viable in NZ, so how far behind are we?Passive Optical LAN is the latest trending type of LAN, which essentially is the GPON technology already installed for UFB being applied to internal networking projects. There are GPON-Ethernet "switches" or ONTs available that fit a standard wall outlet, so it can often look just like a copper LAN to the user except that phones need to be IP or go through an ATA on the desk. Its supposed to be especially economic for large multi-storey or campus networks (eg airports). Passive splitters connect shared 2.5Gbps to each outlet, instead of using several cabinets and distribution switches that would otherwise be required to overcome the 100m limitation of twisted-pair Ethernet, especially if Cat6A or higher is being considered. The split ratio installed depends on the services used and expected congestion, so WIFI might go on a smaller splitter than the office PCs. All happens over Singlemode fibre but the cost is coming down due to the volume of OLTs and ONTs being manufactured for UFB-type projects around the world. The strategy is that contention on the network moves to OLTs at a single centralised comms cabinet, instead the common status quo of 1Gbps or 2Gbps backbone uplinks from each Gigabit switch around the network. The splitter tray and OLT port is apparently cheaper than a Gigabit switch with backbone setup for the same capacity. While the splitter doesn't need power and ONTs can be powered at the outlet, sometimes an area cabinet centrally powers each ONT over composite fibre/copper cables for POE with UPS backup.Wondering if any such Optical LAN projects have made their way to NZ yet, and how did they go? Probably the costs are higher in NZ, so how does it compare to copper LANs. At what point does it become economic? Are NZ organisations willing to commit to a full IP network that can't take analogue phone or alarm devices?
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