HANNOVER, GERMANY — In the rapidly evolving landscape of European telecommunications, the narrative has long been centered on the "race to fiber." However, for a select group of early movers, the conversation has shifted from initial deployment to the complexities of long-term modernization. At the forefront of this transition is htp, a Hannover-based regional operator that began its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) journey over a decade ago—well before fiber became the gold standard of global connectivity.
Speaking at the recent BREKO Arbeitstag, a prominent industry event hosted by the German Broadband Association, htp’s leadership outlined a blueprint for the "second strategic decision" facing fiber pioneers. In a joint session featuring Jochen Krauss, Head of Network Planning at htp, and Udo Abt, Senior Consultant of Sales Engineering at Calix, the operator revealed its transition from legacy Point-to-Point (P2P) Ethernet architecture to native XGS-PON.
This shift is more than a technical upgrade; it represents a fundamental change in how regional operators manage total cost of ownership (TCO), operational simplicity, and the looming demand for symmetrical multi-gigabit services.
Main Facts: The Transition to Native XGS-PON
The core of htp’s strategy involves a decisive move away from the Point-to-Point (P2P) Ethernet structures that defined the first wave of German fiber builds. While P2P offered dedicated bandwidth, it carried significant overhead in terms of central office (CO) space, energy consumption, and manual labor.
Today, htp serves approximately 123,400 residential and 9,710 business customers. With a fiber penetration level of 63%—a figure many German operators are still striving to reach—htp is now utilizing native XGS-PON (10-Gigabit-capable Symmetric Passive Optical Network) for all new construction and network densification projects.
Key highlights of the transition include:
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Reduction: A projected and realized cost saving of over 40% compared to legacy architectures.
- Architectural Efficiency: A reduction in central office equipment footprint from 32 rack units to just one for every 2,000 subscribers.
- Symmetrical Performance: Native XGS-PON provides 10 Gbps capacity both upstream and downstream, supporting a 1:64 split ratio without degrading the user experience.
- Vendor Partnership: The adoption of the Calix One™ platform to abstract hardware complexity and enable software-defined network management.
Chronology: From Early Pioneer to Market Leader
The journey of htp mirrors the broader evolution of the German telecommunications market, but at an accelerated pace.
2012–2014: The First Wave
A decade ago, htp began its aggressive push into FTTH. At the time, the German market was dominated by DSL and VDSL Vectoring. htp’s decision to bypass copper and go straight to fiber was viewed as ambitious. They utilized Point-to-Point Ethernet, which was the most stable and understandable technology for high-speed delivery at the time.
2015–2020: Scaling and Saturation
As htp expanded across the Hannover region, it successfully activated tens of thousands of lines. By 2020, the operator had achieved a penetration rate of over 60%, establishing itself as a dominant regional player. However, the limitations of the P2P model began to surface: crowded central offices, high power bills, and the need for technicians to manually patch connections at both ends for every new activation.
2021–2023: The Evaluation Phase
Recognizing that the next decade would require 10G capabilities and better operational margins, htp began a rigorous evaluation of Next-Generation PON (NG-PON) technologies. This period involved a "battle of arguments" between engineering teams weighing the merits of GPON, Combo-PON, and Native XGS-PON.
2024 and Beyond: The Modernization Era
The current phase sees htp standardizing on Native XGS-PON. All new greenfield developments and "densification" (adding new subscribers to existing areas) now utilize this architecture. The operator is also embarking on a multi-year migration program to transition its existing P2P base to PON in alignment with equipment lifecycles.
Supporting Data: The Economics of Efficiency
The decision to move to XGS-PON was backed by a comprehensive TCO analysis. According to Jochen Krauss, the actual savings have exceeded the initial conservative models. The data reveals three primary drivers of this economic shift:
1. Physical Footprint and Real Estate
In a P2P environment, serving 2,000 subscribers requires approximately 32 rack units (RU) of equipment in the central office. This includes massive patch panels and high-density switches. By moving to XGS-PON, htp has compressed that same subscriber density into a single rack unit. This 97% reduction in space allows htp to scale its subscriber base without leasing additional real estate or expanding existing facilities.
2. Energy Consumption and ESG Goals
As energy prices in Europe remain volatile, power efficiency has become a top-tier strategic priority. XGS-PON significantly lowers the wattage required per subscriber. Furthermore, the use of distributed splitters allows the field network to run almost entirely passive. This eliminates the need for powered and cooled street cabinets, which are both expensive to maintain and prone to failure during extreme weather.
3. Operational Simplicity and Labor
Under the old P2P model, service activation was a labor-intensive process requiring coordinated efforts between technicians at the central office and the customer premises. With the Calix-supported XGS-PON deployment, service activation is automated. The software abstraction layer allows htp’s 250-person team to configure PON services using the same familiar logic as Ethernet, reducing the training burden and the margin for human error.
Official Responses: Insights from the BREKO Stage
The joint presentation by htp and Calix at the BREKO Arbeitstag provided a rare look into the internal deliberations of a major regional ISP.
Jochen Krauss, Head of Network Planning at htp, emphasized the necessity of foresight:
"Technology generations turning over is simply the nature of infrastructure, and the advantage belongs to operators who plan the transition rather than react to it. We didn’t want to wait for a crisis of capacity or space; we wanted a structured evolution."
Krauss also noted that the price of XGS-PON Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) fell much faster than industry analysts predicted, effectively closing the cost gap with older GPON technology and making the jump to 10G a "no-brainer" from a procurement perspective.
Udo Abt, Senior Consultant of Sales Engineering at Calix, highlighted the "smartphone-like" experience of modern network management:
"The Calix One platform abstracts the underlying technology. For the htp team, 4G becomes 5G—or in this case, P2P becomes XGS-PON—without the need to relearn the entire device. This simplicity is what allowed an engineer to complete a first test installation within just one week."
Abt also pointed out that htp’s procurement requirements were strict: they demanded no vendor lock-in on optical components, open management interfaces, and hardware that could withstand the "hardened" requirements of outdoor European deployments.
Implications: A Roadmap for the European Fiber Market
The htp case study serves as a bellwether for the hundreds of European operators currently approaching the ten-year mark of their initial fiber deployments. The implications of htp’s success are three-fold:
The End of the "GPON vs. XGS-PON" Debate
For years, many operators hesitated to adopt XGS-PON due to the higher cost of optics. htp’s experience proves that the "historic cost gap" has vanished. By choosing native XGS-PON over "Combo-PON" (which runs GPON and XGS-PON simultaneously), htp has simplified its sparing strategy and ensured that every customer is 10G-ready from day one.
Future-Proofing for 50G PON
The transition to XGS-PON is not the final destination. The infrastructure htp is laying today is designed to support 50G PON in parallel. As business services, 5G backhaul, and AI-driven data demands increase, htp can overlay 50G services on the same fiber strands without digging up streets or replacing the passive splitters.
Software-Defined Operations as a Competitive Edge
In a market where labor is scarce, the ability to manage a network through a unified software platform is a critical competitive advantage. htp’s path toward AI-supported predictive operations and network slicing is already integrated into their current software foundation. This allows a relatively small team of 250 people to punch well above their weight class, competing effectively with national incumbents.
Final Outlook
As Germany pushes toward its "Gigabit Strategy 2030," the focus is shifting from simply "passing" homes to "connecting and maintaining" them efficiently. htp has demonstrated that the second wave of fiber is not about the medium—fiber is already a given—but about the architecture. By embracing native XGS-PON and software-defined simplicity, htp is not just modernizing for the next decade; they are setting the standard for what a sustainable, high-performance regional operator looks like in the 21st century.
The message from the BREKO stage was clear: The second migration is coming for every operator in Europe. htp is living proof that this migration doesn’t have to be a crisis—it can be a well-executed plan.
