22586 - SCTE Broadband - Sep2026 Complete v1

FROM THE INDUSTRY

50G-PON Diminishing Returns on Speed, and What Will Really Define Broadband’s Next Decade

BY Frank Ploumen, SVP Product Management, Calix

For decades, our industry has competed on a single axis: speed. That era is ending. Consumers and businesses aren’t asking for more bandwidth, They’re asking for outcomes: a reliable network, managed services that cater to their unique needs, a provider that answers the phone when something goes wrong. Speed still matters, but in mature fibre markets it’s a solved problem, not a battleground.

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SEPTEMBER 2026 Volume 48 No.3

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