Huawei’s Fan Xu started his presentation on using intelligence to deliver premium broadband by sharing insight on two key trends that are affecting the way QoE is delivered and optimized: FTTx and AI.
On FTTx, Fan Xu identified three ‘waves’ redefining the broadband business. First is coverage as fiber is growing at a CAGR of 5% per year, while cable and xDSL is decreasing at around 6%. Next are the changes to bandwidth trends and the growing ratio of >1Gbps users, which are expected to grow at a rate of 141% in the next five years. The final wave is experience, referring to the rapid growth of FTTR subscribers. FTTR is projected to account for more than 20% of residential FTTH subscriptions in a few years, in part because it is favored as the best home networking solution.
Fan Xu then pointed to another trend that is driving ‘premium experiences’ to customers through
broadband upgrades, AI. AI devices, applications, and deployments are demanding change from the network architecture, essentially pushing optical broadband further towards 10Gbps. Fan Xu showed us how intelligent access networks are formed of three key components - FTTR, AI Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and AI Network Enhanced Residential Gateway (NERG) to support fast AI popularization.
After talking through the background, Fan Xu then went on to cover four areas under the banner of premium broadband delivery via intelligence. From the E2E QoE perspective, the first of these considerations was the framework and overall architecture, as well as the development of PON - specifically 50G PON and how it helps deliver 10Gbps to subscribers. Fan Xu also touched on FTTR’s mass development, explained how the FTTR business had boomed in 2024, and how it is unlocking new markets. He then looked at WiFi 7, giving insight on its use and relationship with AI for carrier-grade experiences.
Fan Xu wrapped up the talk by summarizing the ongoing work at BBF that is embracing services-led broadband and enabling QoE improvement, as well as future work considerations for projects that address topics including FTTR certification and power saving.