Kontron Broadband and Planet Networks Partner to Bring 10- Gigabit Fiber Availability to Hundreds of Thousands of Homes and Businesses in the United States of America

San Diego, CA – Kontron America Inc., a leader in cutting-edge broadband solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Planet Networks to accelerate the deployment of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband services across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This collaboration will bring multi-gigabit connectivity, with speeds up to 10Gbit/s, to residential and business customers.

Enhancing Broadband Access with Tailored Solutions

As part of this partnership, Planet Networks is implementing an end-to-end fiber broadband solution powered by Kontron’s advanced hardware and software portfolio. This includes Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), 10G XGS-PON Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), and next-generation Mesh Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 Customer Premises Equipment (CPEs)—all seamlessly integrated ensuring ease of transition with existing platforms and paired with an intuitive software management platform to streamline deployment and operations. 

Robert Boyle, CEO of Planet Networks, emphasized the value of working with Kontron, stating:

"From concept to deployment, Kontron has been a reliable and innovative partner. Their open broadband hardware and software platform enables us to integrate with and upgrade our existing legacy network OLT equipment while preserving the value of existing ONTs already deployed while delivering significantly faster speeds and superior service quality to our customers. The integration of Kontron’s industry-leading standards-based OLTs and the new XGS-PON ONT developed for us by Kontron future-proofs our network while allowing us to deliver a robust suite of services while improving installation simplicity.” 

Expanding Fiber Connectivity with Scalable Solutions

Planet Networks has connected subscribers on the Kontron platform today, with plans to connect over 30,000 subscribers within the next year and over 100,000 over the next several years. Planet offers its fiber Internet service to over 100,000 homes today with plans to more than triple that number over the next several years. This rapid expansion is made possible, in part, by Kontron’s ability to meet Planet Networks’ specific needs for high-reliability best-in-class solutions and services with industry-leading value. With 10GbE XGS-PON, Planet Networks has the capability to offer ultra-fast broadband speeds up to 10Gbit/s, ensuring ample network bandwidth to meet Planet’s customers’ needs for years to come. 

Ted Christiansen, CEO of Kontron America, highlighted the partnership's significance:

"Kontron’s long-standing leadership in the European broadband market is now extending into the U.S. through partnerships like this. By working with Planet Networks, we’re setting new standards for speed, reliability, and customer experience in fiber broadband services."  

Together, we are setting new standards for speed, reliability, and customer experience in fiber broadband services. 

Kontron's commitment to interoperability ensures seamless integration with legacy equipment, providing a true open platform that allows Internet providers like Planet Networks to mix and match OLTs, ONTs, and CPEs from different vendors. For Planet Networks, this flexibility allowed them to easily connect their existing multiple vendor ONTs to Kontron’s new OLT’s and upgrade from 1Gbit/s GPON to 10Gbit/s XGS-PON while supporting both existing GPON and new XGS-PON (COMBO PON) technologies.  As a result, Planet Networks was able to leverage their existing investments in already deployed networking equipment without requiring expensive truck rolls or interruptions to customers while improving overall network performance and scalability.

As part of the Planet Networks partnership, Kontron demonstrated its agility and focus on customer-driven product development by utilizing existing field-proven design for 10G XGS-PON ONTs while adding Planet specific features including Power over Ethernet (PoE), ruggedized housing, high temperature operation, and other requested features delivering a prototype in just six weeks. 

Furthermore, Kontron’s advanced hardware design and flexible software algorithms on its OLTs enabled Planet Networks to achieve a 50% increase in customer Wi-Fi performance without replacing already deployed ONTs and CPEs, enhancing connectivity and delivering a better customer experience. 

Commitment to Growth

This partnership marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between Kontron America and Planet Networks, with both companies committed to expanding fiber broadband availability and ensuring businesses and households across the region benefit from next-generation connectivity.

For more information, visit Kontron Broadband and Planet Networks.

Media Contact:
Tayler Pignolet

NA.Info.Americas@kontron.com