Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks


Etisalat by e& announced the successful completion of the Middle East’s first symmetric 50G PON (50-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks) equipment test for broadband services. In a press release today, the company revealed a significant boost to home and business broadband services through a forthcoming 50G PON network technology upgrade, promising speeds of up to 50 Gbps.
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Performance Indicators
Etisalat by e& said it thoroughly assessed various 50G PON capabilities, ensuring that the network is qualified for the deployment of 50G PON during the testing phase. All indicators have reached an industry-leading level, with the maximum line rate approaching the theoretical limit defined in the 50G PON standard, it said.
The optical power budget meets the Optical Distribution Network (ODN) application specifications in live networks and supports the coexistence of 50G PON and XG(S)-PON terminals, enabling to achieve a single integrated network.
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50G PON Technology
Etisalat highlighted that PON, or passive optical networks, is the fibre optic technology that delivers broadband connections of 1 Gigabit and beyond. The 50G PON, defined by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T), represents the next generation after XG(S)-PON (10-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks).
Network Technology Upgrade
Addressing the industry’s technological landscape, Etisalat by e& noted, “Currently, the mainstream technology is XG(S)-PON. However, with the rapid development of new digital services in recent years, such as glasses-free 8K 3D, ultra-fast cloud storage, and AR/VR, the research and development of next-generation access technologies has become increasingly important. Therefore, 50G PON emerges into a common choice in the industry. Compared to XG(S)-PON, 50G PON not only boosts an increase in the bandwidth by five times, but also reduces the latency by 10 times.”