Calix will acquire Ericsson’s fiber access assets for an undisclosed sum.
Ericsson supplies a range of GPON OLT platforms and complementary ONTs. The Ericsson EDA 1500 GPON plaform features a redundant 320 Gbps switch architecture and support for 7168 ONT/ONUs per chassis (1:64 split ratio). It delivers 2.5 Gbps/ 1.2 Gbps downstream/upstream speeds and offers 10 Gbps uplink interface. Up to 61 U.S.-based employees of Ericsson are expected to transfer to Calix.
Calix will also become Ericsson’s preferred global partner for broadband access applications under a global reseller agrement between the firms. This allows Ericsson to sell Calix Unified Access systems and software as its preferred fiber and VDSL2 access solution in 180 countries worldwide. This preferred partnership becomes effective upon the close of the acquisition and remains effective for three years.
“This partnership provides Calix, already North America’s fiber access deployment leader, with an extensive new global reseller channel, while our acquisition of Ericsson’s fiber access portfolio delivers powerful new complements to our industry-leading Unified Access portfolio,” said Carl Russo, president and CEO of Calix. “This partnership, built on a clear alignment of corporate strategy and direction, allows Ericsson to fully leverage its strengths in wireless and end-to-end services while relying on Calix to provide innovation and expertise in fixed-line broadband access. We are excited about the opportunity to assume responsibility for development and support of Ericsson’s fiber access business, and look forward to working closely with Ericsson and its broad customer base as a preferred global partner.”
“We believe that this partnership will provide our existing fiber access customers with world-class support and maintenance, and an expanded portfolio of access systems and software from a leading company totally focused on access,” said Jan Haeglund, vice president and head of product area IP and broadband at Ericsson.
- Last year, Ericsson upgraded its solutions for scaling PON-based fiber access networks to 40 Gbps using Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON) technology. The capability is being added to the EA 1100 platform, which is a result of a joint venture with LG-Ericsson.
Ericsson also announced several GPON enhancements, including a new 16-port GPON OLT board now enables broadband services to more than 14,000 FTTH GPON subscribers in a single EDA 1500 chassis.
Ericsson introduced an Integrated TDM Gateway (ITG) board to the EDA 1500, enabling a converged platform for packet and TDM services across fixed enterprise and mobile applications. The ITG terminates and aggregates E1 services across multiple GPON ports at the OLT for STM-1 connectivity to existing TDM networks. This simplifies the network and substantially improves an operator’s total cost of ownership.
In addition, Ericsson expanded its EDA portfolio with the T780G Optical Network Unit (ONU). This GPON-fed modular ONU provides flexibility for operators delivering ADSL2+, VDSL2, POTS, E1 and Ethernet services to both business and residential users. The T780G enables operators to support dense areas with different service requirements without rewiring buildings. The ONU is part of Ericsson’s T-series of optical terminals which provides maximum flexibility to deploy deep fiber access networks.
- In 2007, Ericsson acquired Entrisphere, a start-up specializing in GPON fiber access technology, for an undisclosed sum. Entrisphere was founded in 2000 and was based in Santa Clara, California. The company has about 140 people at the time. The core of the Entrisphere GPON solution included Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), Optical Network Units (ONUs) and management systems. The solution also included software upgrades that expand existing IP service-aware features such as IGMP multicasting, VLAN stacking and tagging, and security upgrades.
- In 2010, Calix acquired Occam Networks, also a supplier of broadband access solutions.