Motorola introduces Passive Optical LAN

Motorola this week introduced its Passive Optical LAN technology for enterprise networks.

At the Interop trade show in Las Vegas, Motorola unveiled POL, which brings gigabit passive optical networking, or GPON, to enterprise backbones. POL is based on fiber optics throughout - instead of workgroup switches in every closet, users would install passive optical splitters, which don't have the power and cooling requirements that the switches do.

Motorola also points out that POL simplifies the network by reducing the number of active components. The company argues that the architecture is easier to deploy, manage and maintain.

POL grew out of Motorola's existing GPON products, which it sells to telecom service providers deploying fiber to the home (FTTH). The company offers the optical line terminals that reside at central offices and the optical network terminals that are closer to customers. It makes the set-top boxes as well. It's the technology used to bring all the voice, Internet access and TV signals to homes and businesses.

A few months ago Motorola boasted that it has 22% of the global GPON market, and Gartner positioned Motorola in its Magic Quadrant for FTTH equipment, along with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo (there's apparently a lot of magic happening in this area).

It's interesting to see the company leverage that expertise for a run at the enterprise market. Motorola is trying to sell the argument that the reduced power and cooling requirements are exactly what enterprises are looking for, as they try to cut energy costs. Will those other magic-quadranters come to the same conclusion?

Motorola also announced an agreement with SAIC, where SAIC will resell Motorola's POL technology.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.