• Technical Conference:  15 – 19 March 2026
  • Exhibition: 17 – 19 March 2026
  • Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

In Future Fixed Access, is Monitoring Built in For Free?

Wednesday, 02 April, 16:30 – 18:30

Rooms 203-204 (Level 2)

Over the last decades, fiber connectivity has become the dominant technology for access networks. Carriers are gradually replacing twisted-wire-based ADSL lines with fixed access solutions such as PON and even MSOs are looking into optics as an alternative to an expensive upgrade to DOCSIS 4.0. In terms of bandwidth, PON networks have a clear advantage over electrical connections. However, the main challenge with using optical fibers in access is that trouble shooting is cumbersome. Whereas both ADSL and cable networks have extensive means to detect faults, detecting fiber faults in a PON network is challenging and only limited tools are available today.

This panel will dive into monitoring solutions for PON networks: Will monitoring be realizable for free? What are the key parameters that will need to be monitored to streamline operation? What new technologies are on the horizon? What will be the impact of coherent PON? This panel will bring together leading researchers ranging from academia to tier 1 operators for an in-depth discussion.

Organizers

Sander Jansen (Lead), Adtran, Germany

Stephan Pachnicke, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Germany

Annachiara Pagano, FiberCop, Italy

Speakers

Tom Moore, AT&T, United States

Key Access Fiber Monitoring Challenges

Rene Bonk, Nokia, Germany

Sensing and Monitoring with IM-DD-based PONs

Robert Conger, ADTRAN, United States

Integrating Optical Monitoring into a Holistic Approach to Network Monitoring

Pat Iannone, Nokia, United States

Centralized Optical Fiber Plant Monitoring Over PON

Pierpaolo Boffi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Sustainable Monitoring of In-Service PON Safety