Google Fiber announced Monday that it had successfully tested a 50 Gbps connection on a live network. Employing Nokia’s 50G PON technology, the GFiber Labs team tested the connection on a live network in their Kansas City fiber huts.
The successful test of a 50 Gbps connection is the next step in Google Fiber’s ambition to be capable of providing speeds as high as 100 Gbps.
“With Gfiber Labs, we have committed to pursuing speeds of 100 Gig and beyond,” said Liz Hsu, Senior Director of Product and Billing at Google Fiber, in a video posted on the company’s blog. “Today, we take a step in that direction.”
Google Fiber tested the 50 Gbps because of these corporate commitments, the popularity of the fastest speeds currently available, and the belief that consumer demand for higher speeds will only grow.
Nick Saporito, Head of Multi-Gig and Commercial Product, said, “Our 20 Gig plus Wi-Fi 7 product has been a reminder for us to never underestimate consumer demand for ultra broadband speeds.”
Saporito added that the successful test of the 50 Gbps connection is a testament to the company’s existing fiber cables being future-proof.
Google Fiber’s aim is to deploy Nokia’s 25G PON to all of its existing markets by the end of 2024, so they can offer the 20 Gbps service to all customers. Nokia previously tested its PON technology on live networks at speeds up to 100 Gbps.
“It’s hard to predict the future, but we know internet speeds are going to have to get faster and bandwidth needs are going to grow,” said Hsu. “It’s not so far-fetched that we’re going to have to have a network that supports multi-Gig speeds.”
