Fiber Connect 2024 | FBA Announces Winners of Innovative PoC Showcase

At Fiber Connect 2024, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) announced the winners of the Proof of Concept (PoC) Showcase. The PoC Showcase featured eight demonstrations that leveraged fiber’s capacity, speed, scale, and security to improve Connected Home innovations and services.

Fiber Connect 2024 PoCs were collaborative projects involving at least one member company of FBA or Broadband Forum (BBF), and many leveraged one of two BBF Connected Home specifications: BBF.247 GPON ONU or BBF.369 User Services Platform. All PoC demonstrations were evaluated live at Fiber Connect 2024 by industry analysts.

The three award-winning PoCs include:

Most Innovative Award – presented to Taara, for its “Free Space Optical Communication” PoC. This demonstration showcased the role of wireless optical communication (WOC) technology in helping bridge middle mile gaps in broadband infrastructure and highlights three use cases: fiber backup, high-capacity backhaul at temporary or seasonal event venues, and disaster relief.

Biggest Impact Award – presented to Nokia and Condor Technologies for their “Wholesale Open Access for FTTH Networks” PoC. They presented an enhanced wholesale API and UI for FTTH networks that give VNO tenants autonomy and flexibility and gives operators the ability to increase take rate and ROI of their fiber investment, attract more VNOs, and increase wholesale revenues by 23%.

Game Changer Award – presented to Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA), Luna Innovations, and Underline Infrastructure for their “Fiber Optic Sensing in Telecom Applications” PoC. Their demonstration enabled network operators to monitor physical cable plant to detect threats, prevent damage, pinpoint and categorize events, and more.

“Each year, the Fiber Connect PoC Showcase displays incredible innovation, and this year, demonstrations were elevated further through our collaboration with the Broadband Forum,” said Evann Freeman, FBA Board Member and Conference Committee Chair, and Vice President of Government & Community Relations at EPB of Chattanooga. “While we congratulate three deserving winners, each PoC should be applauded for their application of fiber broadband for the Connected Home. These concepts truly demonstrate fiber’s power to accelerate our future.”

“A big congratulations to the 2024 PoC award winners and thank you to all who participated. Your contributions and collaborations are truly instrumental in the advancement of our broadband standards,” said Ken Pyle Director of Marketing at Broadband Forum. “The PoC demonstrations, based on our certification programs, represent the demands of the service providers for interoperable, multi-vendor networks. As such, an increasing number of vendors are participating in our standards and certification programs.”

“We would like to extend our gratitude to the Fiber Broadband Association for providing this platform to demonstrate the types of services, business models, and operations that are possible going forward,” continued Pyle.

Additional PoCs were represented at Fiber Connect 2024, including “Empowering Connectivity: Collaborative Approach to Overcoming Broadband Challenges in Unserved and Underserved Communities,” presented by Ciena, Heights Telecom, Cambridge Industries Group Inc, and Axiros; “B2C Value-Added Services Automation to Maximize CSP Fiber Investments,” presented by Incognito, Harmonic, and KAON Broadband; “Corteca Cloud as a USP-Based, Multi-Vendor Wi-Fi Management + Device Management Solution,” presented by Nokia and Singtel; “Empowering Interoperability to Accelerate Fiber to the Home and Deliver Service Excellence,” presented by Calix; and “Empowering Connectivity: Enhancing Short-Term Rentals with Flexible Internet Packages,” presented by CompaxDigital.