WELCOME TO OUR THIRD FIBRE YEARBOOK


YEARBOOK 2022


04 FTTH Keely Portway looks at the state of play for FTTH deployment in Europe and America, and what needs to be done in the next 12 months to meet various governments’ ambitious targets


08 SKILLS Tere is currently a shortage of skilled fibre professionals. Keely Portway asks how we, as an industry, can work towards addressing this


12 SUPPLY CHAIN Keely Portway discusses what the current semiconductor shortage could mean for telecoms in 2022


14 INTEROPERABILITY Interoperability is recognised to be the linchpin to open networking, but this can only be achieved via industry collaboration, finds Keely Portway


18 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS Mark Lutkowitz makes a comparison between solutions from two startups, demonstrated at ECOC 2021


20 FIBRE DEPLOYMENT Jeff Heynen reveals why he predicts that fibre deployments will show no signs of slowing in 2022


24 REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS Regulations and standards are key to building the networks of tomorrow. Here, two industry experts offer their view on what to expect in 2022


26 FEATURED TECHNOLOGY A look at 25G PON and why it is seen as such a crucial technology by many of the world’s top operators and vendors


28 NEWS DIGEST A round-up of the key news stories from throughout the year


32 ROADMAP 2022 What optical communications companies will focus on in 2022


36 SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY Find the right suppliers for you


Te team behind Fibre Systems magazine is excited to bring you a jam-packed third edition of our Fibre Yearbook. Te first Fibre Yearbook was launched – somewhat optimistically in hindsight – at the end of 2019. I set out how the optical communications industry looked set to enjoy a busy and exciting year ahead, with the evolution to 5G drawing ever-closer, bringing with it a greater demand on the backhaul network; emerging technologies and methods to support 5G, as well as increased security. Tose who remember the launch edition may


even recall a social media competition where we asked readers to take photos from events around the world in 2020 holding a copy. But let’s immediately pretend that didn’t happen! Two years and too many lockdowns to count


later, what the ever-present pandemic has helped to demonstrate is a greatly heightened need for more high-capacity networks, with full-fibre widely espoused as the holy grail. Tis in turn has a number of associated


challenges, including cost, logistics, politics, associated technology, fibre supply, and installation skill requirements. Tere will be a huge appetite for higher service levels as subscribers increase, and even more varied product ranges will be an important development. Operators will also need to be able to adapt their networks for digital as more intelligent networks emerge with soſtware innovations and next generation coherent optics. Te Fibre Yearbook has a year-long shelf-life


and, as such, comprises features, opinions and analysis from experts at some of the leading industry associations and analyst firms. Tis strategy has certainly proven popular. Tis issue includes a look at the state of the


market for fibre deployment in Europe and the U.S. and what needs to be done over the next 12 months to move toward the goal of copper switch-off (page 4). Te current skills shortage is also addressed and we ask the experts what needs to be done to bridge the gap (page 8) Looking at the post-Covid recovery, we take


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Fibre Yearbook (a Fibre Systems publication) is published by Europa Science Ltd, 4 Signet Court, Cambridge CB5 8LA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 221030 Fax: +44 (0)1223 213385 Web: www.europascience.com ISSN: 2053-5147


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a look at the challenges ahead, such as how to navigate the semiconductor shortage (page 12), and we also touch on interoperability, the market for coherent optics, and we look at some of the technology on the horizon. With some events returning towards the end of 2021, I am hopeful that this will continue and that things will be looking a whole lot more like ‘the old normal’ by the time the 2023 Yearbook rolls around. Until then, keep doing what you are doing, stay safe and stay in touch!


Keely Portway Editor


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