Adtran has announced that US operator CenturyLink is using its virtualised optical line terminal (OLT) in a field trial of next-generation access services.
This is the first US deployment of a disaggregated software-defined access (SD-Access) system, the vendor claims. The virtualised OLT can be programmed to deliver different technologies – in this case XGS-PON and NG-PON2 – from the same hardware, creating a more flexible, manageable and scalable access network infrastructure.
“The move to an open, programmable and scalable access network will facilitate CenturyLink’s service agility and support faster deployment of services and applications for our customers,” said Aamir Hussain, CenturyLink executive vice president and chief technology officer. “This solution will enable us to reduce operating costs through the economies of data centre architectures and automate our networks as we look to offer 10G services and beyond.”
Launched last year, Adtran’s Mosaic architecture is the foundation for all its next-generation access platforms (see Adtran unveils ‘Mosaic’ open software-defined access architecture). The software is the basis for “the industry’s most open and complete SD-Access architecture,” according to Jay Wilson, Adtran’s senior vice president, technology and strategy.
Adtran’s software-defined architecture is also one of the options being tested by Verizon in preparation for an upgrade to its optical access network (see Verizon evaluates suppliers ahead of NG-PON2 deployment).