Last year we notified you that the global supply chain challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic had caused significant risk to ongoing supply of the current 3rd Generation GPON ONT and that we would need to start provisioning the 4th Generation GPON ONT (Type 400) as our standard ONT for the provision of new NGA connections. 

We have been working towards this change with our customers, many of whom have been working with us from the initial consultations over a year ago. Many thanks to those of you that installed 4th Gen ONTs to test your services. While things have been a little quiet recently, we are getting close to deploying the 4th Gen ONT on a large scale so it’s time to share more information on what the next steps are. 

The journey so far 

The early part of this journey involved industry workshops, followed by sharing our test plans and RSPs undertaking ONT testing. Since then we have been busy beavering away in the background, working towards introducing the new ONT model with minimum disruption. 

We have facilitated RSP trialling where you could swap an existing 3rd Gen ONT to a 4th Gen ONT to test your services. A number of you took us up on this and have had 4th Gen ONTs running in the network since December last year. 

Those of you that use an ACS to provision voice services may have had to make changes to scripts to enable the ACS to work with the 4th Gen ONT, in the same way that you did for the 3rd Gen ONT introduction. 

Recently we started some Serco technician trials to confirm they are familiar with the new install process and to work through any potential install issues. 

What’s next? 

With large-scale deployment of the 4th Gen ONT expected to start in October, we need to start closing out trials, confirm timelines and make sure that everyone is ready for this change. 

RSP Trials – We are currently closing out these trials and have been in touch with the RSPs that participated. We have been getting feedback and confirming what your preference is for the end of the trial.  

External Trial – A lot of work went into designing the mounting brackets and planning the Serco technician install processes. We recently had techs install some 4th Gen ONTs in the field. This field trial confirms that techs are ready, with initial feedback that the 4th Gen ONT is easier to install than the 3rd Gen ONT.  

Rollout Strategy and Timeline – We have been keeping a close eye on 3rd Gen ONT stock levels around the country.  

In November last year, we notified you that we anticipated deployment of the 4th Gen ONT on a large scale to occur between October and December this year, when stock levels of 3rd Gen ONTs reach target levels. 

We now expect to start deploying the 4th Gen ONT in all areas outside Auckland from the week starting 24 October. 

Auckland technicians will switch over and start deploying the 4th Gen ONT as they run out of 3rd Gen ONTs. At our current rate of installs, and with our current stock levels, we expect that this will happen in the week beginning 21 November for most technicians. 

What do frontline teams need to know? 

The 4th Gen ONT is functionally similar to the 3rd Gen ONT. They have the same capabilities, number of ports and power supply. The 4th Gen ONT is slightly different in appearance with two external antennas and ports on the back compared to the single external antenna and ports on the bottom edge of the 3rd Gen ONT. The 4th Gen ONT is designed to be removed from the wall so that users can access these ports to plug in Ethernet cables. 

All collateral from the consultation can be found on the in-flight project page. 

More information on any of our ONTs can be found here. 

Contact

If you have any questions, please reach out to your friendly Chorus account team.