Zhone Technologies introduced new gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) gear this month in anticipation of the NXTcomm trade show, touting in particular an intelligent customer premises device called the zNID. Eric Presworsky, vice president of product management and advanced technology, shares some of the lessons Zhone learned in developing the products.

On installation fears: We asked our customers, "What can we offer you [in a GPON product]? What's missing?" They all said, "We're not worried about the bandwidth. Standards-based GPON provides the bandwidth. We're worried about how we roll out a solution to tens or hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers." I've heard it costs $700 [per home] to install IPTV for the first year. I think that's low. We've had customers telling us it takes up to 7 hours to do installation. A lot of that is rewiring the house. If the IPTV is offered over Ethernet, you have to run Ethernet wires to every TV. Depending on where the [network interface device, or NID] is, sometimes you have to go under the house. One carrier in Arizona said they had to go underneath the house to install IPTV, and they ran into a rattlesnake. Another in the north ran into a dead body. What happens if a guy in the attic steps the wrong way and puts a hole in the ceiling?

On the smart optical network terminal (ONT): FiOS uses an ONT and an intelligent gateway. Both are required to offer service. That's two points of diagnosis. If they both point to each other, you have to send out a technician. We have an intelligent device that can be used to do advanced diagnostics. You can connect to the device and look at statistics on voice-over-IP calls in real time. We log the last two call stats; you can pull that information from the device. We log channel changes, so if it takes a while for the video to come up, we log all that information. You can fully monitor the environmentals. The system always reports that back.

On powering the ONT: Some carriers schedule an electrician to do installation. That adds a lot to your cost. We run power [to the ONT] from the house over phone lines. You take a spare pair of copper, connect it to the local battery backup, and power the [ONT]. Installation is very simple. You plug the fiber in to the side of the house, connect the phone line and the coax, and walk away.

On early customer input: Customers were saying, "Good features, but you're missing how GPON is installed from an operational point of view." Greenfield or brownfield, one group leaves the fiber in a big ball on the side of the house. Fiber doesn't do well [left out in the open]. A few months later, when the homeowner moves in, they come back and install the NID on the side of the house. That takes a lot of time. We came up with a splicing point that allows carriers to let the first group lay the fiber with a clear demarcation point that's fully covered and environmentally controlled. We have pre-fusion-sliced and pre-tapped versions. When a customer is ready to move in, the telco takes the top off, connects the fiber, the coax and the twisted pair, which has HomePNA and power, and walks away. The house is lit. When someone leaves, you don't have to remove it, and your installation is not lost.