Fast Light, the foundation of UTEL’s new Operational Support System, was first launched last year and is a central office OTDR fiber testing system that can reliably detect ONT reflections across 128-split PONs without costly wavelength-dependent reflectors. This measurement capability is made possible by UTEL’s revolutionary Advanced Reflection Detection (ARD) technology, which sets a new global benchmark for OTDR performance.

“We’ve had the technology to change fiber business models for over a year, but now we realize that what service providers are looking for is a complete solution. We’re now finished, and what we have is more advanced than anything else on the market. It can find faults before customers detect them and ensure the entire network is operating at optimal levels with fewer expert engineers,” says Frank Kaufhold, CEO of UTEL.

UTEL's Fast Light PON management system comprises three main subsystems, including a world-first 1650nm OTDR capable of seeing through multiple cascaded splitters, a low-cost, scalable, optical access test robot switch that can be flexibly expanded as the network grows, and the optional OSS, or Application Programming Interface.

"Passive optical networks (PONs) are not just another transitional broadband technology like VDSL, but are the foundation for a new world order in telecommunications. Getting things right is essential. Early incorporation of automated fiber integrity monitoring systems will not only provide significant savings in fiber network deployment, but will also enable operators to meet customer repair process expectations at minimal cost," added Kaufhold.

In service, the new and comprehensive PON management system, Fast Light, will eliminate the conventional manual fault-finding processes, along with the skilled technicians, transportation costs, and expensive handheld OTDRs that were previously required for PON faults.