Telefónica is testing plastic optical fibre (POF) and 60GHz Wi-Fi as solutions for home connectivity.
The advantages of POF, which is a fibre with an 1mm core and a total diameter of 2.2mm, are seen to be easy installation and up to 1 Gbps capacity for customers. Installation is simpler that glass fibre because POF can be sliced with a cutter and installed without connectors. The basic elements for the installation, in addition to the plastic fibre, are the media converter and the KDPOF chipset inside it. The media converter holds the plug, provides two Ethernet ports and permits the connection of two different POF branches.
The 60GHz Wi-Fi technology can offer theoretical connectivities of up to 4600 Mbps.
Telefónica has conducted a plastic optical fibre pilot scheme in about 30 homes, each with up to four fibre outlets, with the deployment of a hybrid POF network (wired backbone) + Wi-Fi, with a smart Wi-Fi amplifier as the access point to expand the coverage. KDPOF is Telefónica’s technological partner.
