Record Vendor Turnout Powers High-Speed Fiber Device Compatibility

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A major leap towards future network interoperability has been achieved, as a record number of leading higher-speed fiber vendors announced successful testing of their devices.

The latest Broadband Forum ‘Plugfest’ tested Higher-Speed PON (50G PON), 25GS-PON, and XGS-PON technologies at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Labs (UNH-IOL) last month.

Higher-Speed PON devices from Airoha Technology, Calix, Nokia, and Sagemcom and 25GS-PON and XGS-PON systems from Evolution Digital, Hitron Technologies Inc., and MT2 were successfully tested. All participants demonstrated the interoperability of their products in diverse and dynamic ecosystems, proving their solutions could work seamlessly with others.

“Interoperability in PON networks is imperative for service providers, providing them with the flexibility and scalability to confidently innovate within the next generation of broadband and user applications,” said Broadband Forum CEO Craig Thomas. “Our Plugfests are vital environments to test solutions, and we are thrilled to see such strong participation and collaboration from BBF members, 25G and 50G PON contributors, and the wider PON vendors.”

25G and 50G PON provide ultra-high bandwidth and low latency that are essential for meeting the demands of modern home and business applications such as 8K video streaming and cloud computing.

The Plugfest welcomed vendors of optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network unit (ONU) equipment, PON chipsets and software stacks, Residential Gateway devices directly incorporating a PON interface, and test and measurement equipment.

“Multi-vendor PON ecosystems depend on seamless integration of components from diverse equipment vendors, making rigorous testing and strict compliance checks an absolute necessity,” said Broadband Forum Technical Chair and UNH-IOL Principal Engineer, Broadband Technologies Lincoln Lavoie. “One of the greatest strengths of the Broadband Forum Plugfests is the in-person collaboration and the opportunity to troubleshoot and address issues in real time with the help of on-site experts specializing in the PON field.”

The next Broadband Forum PON Plugfest will be hosted by LANPARK in February 2026. For more information, visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/events/.

About the Broadband Forum

The Broadband Forum is an industry-driven global standards development organization helping operators, application providers, and vendors deliver better, services-led broadband.

As the industry-recognized center of competence, the Broadband Forum provides an accessible, efficient, and effective community where all broadband stakeholders can collaborate on, develop, and promote open standards and open software. This provides the basis for deployable solutions for the global broadband industry.

The Broadband Forum publishes interoperable standards and open software, has launched certification programs, and promotes industry education. These best practices and models can be adopted to help realize an effective broadband ecosystem that drives a thriving, services-led broadband industry based on global collaboration, open standards, and open source, maximizing value for all stakeholders.

For more information, visit https://www.broadband-forum.org/. For the latest updates, follow Broadband Forum on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.