Starman, Nokia to deploy first nationwide 10-gigabit residential network in Europe

NEW DELHI: Finland based telecom giant Nokia and Starman, the largest cable operator in the Baltic States, will deploy the first nationwide 10-gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (10G EPON) in Europe.

The new network will let Starman cost-effectively deliver new ultra-broadband services to residential customers living in Estonia and meet growing customer demand for high-speed, high-quality triple-play (voice, Internet and cable) services. The network will be gradually rolled out in Q4 2016 throughout Estonia after successful lab and field tests.

Already a leader in broadband services, Starman is seeing a clear shift from broadcast TV to on-demand TV and video services, and Internet traffic is growing about 50% year after year in one of Europe's most technology savvy countries. Based on this, Starman decided to go for future-proof technology that ensures their network can deliver 1Gbps speeds to each customer in the near term and up to 10Gbps when required.

The contract shows how cable operators globally are considering deep fiber and fiber-to-the-home deployments as a realistic and cost-effective alternative to upgrading their current DOCSIS®3.0 Hybrid Fiber Coax networks to 3.1, in order to meet subscriber demands.

Starman chose the Nokia 10G EPON solution as the most economical and technologically flexible considering future industry trends. Its business case benefits from local conditions that allow the reuse of existing ducts in the street, and Starman can leverage their in-house cabling rights to bring fiber to each apartment.

Furthermore, the solution supports DOCSIS provisioning over EPON (DPoE), which allows for a low-touch integration into the existing cable network and DOCSIS back-end systems. The solution also includes Nokia's Optical Network Termination (ONT) devices, providing consumers with the latest generation gigabit Wi-Fi technology.

Nokia's solution makes Starman the first European cable operator to commercially deploy a 10G EPON fiber access residential solution for brownfield deployments.

Starman Group Technology Director Jaanus Erlemann said: "We chose Nokia because of their unique ability to provide both the latest technology innovations and expertise from their top specialists. When investing in the Internet services we bring to our customers' home, ensuring the technology is future-proof is essential. Today we are choosing solutions that can allow for symmetrical connections greater than 1Gbps, enabling us to skip some current technological developments and take a seat on the new high-speed 10G train."

Federico Guillèn, president of Nokia's Fixed Networks business group, said: "Starman's choice recognizes the value of Nokia's fiber products to support the evolution of capacity, bandwidth and services in their network. We are proud that our fiber access solutions and expertise helps cable operators meet customer demands with high-capacity, high-quality connectivity."