NBN Co and Nokia run four optical technologies at once in a 230 Gbps lab trial
The Supercharging Fibre demonstration combined coherent optics with GPON, XGS-PON and 50G-PON. These are not customer speeds.
NBN Co and Nokia reached more than 230 Gbps of capacity in a lab trial using the same kind of fibre the company installs in homes. The test ran coherent optics alongside GPON, XGS-PON and 50G-PON at the same time.
Coherent optics are usually found in core and data centre networks. NBN Co says similar trials could reach terabit rates.
NBN Co’s footnote is clear that these are not end-user speeds. The figure shows what potential future technology can do, and it has not been tested with retail providers.
The trial follows a 2024 demonstration on the live network, when NBN Co and Nokia reached 83 Gbps wholesale downloads using prototype 100G technology.
Why co-existence matters
Each new generation of passive optical network uses different wavelengths, so operators can add capacity for some customers without touching others. That means upgrades can be made at the exchange and the premises without new fibre in the street. This is the main argument for fibre over copper as a long-term investment.