Due to the unique character of OLT product, the industry generally uses the number of users supported per PON port as the performance of OLT, and product price is calculated by the quantity of PON ports. For traditional rack-mounted carrier-grade OLTs, whether equipped with 32 or 128 PON ports, the hardware, R&D, and structural costs allocated per PON port are nearly the same, so the unit price per PON port is basically the same.
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Take a typical rack-mounted OLT used in carrier equipment room as an example.the main control board, power supply module, cooling structure, and supporting management system are developed uniformly by an integrated platform. There is no extra cost for extra ports. As a result, when costs are distributed evenly, there is little difference in per-port cost between high-density models and those devices with fewer ports. Manufactures typically calculate quotes for customers by simply multiplying the per-PON port price by the total number of ports, do not set prices for different models. Furthermore, during telecom carrier tender procurement evaluations, auditors primarily assess the load capacity of individual PON ports， not considering so much about overall equipment dimensions and backplane switching capacity . Over time, the entire industry has universally adopted PON ports as the benchmark for pricing. All major suppliers follow this standard when bidding for projects and conducting cost accounting.
In contrast, however, the price difference between Mini OLT models—such as single port and 2 port units—is not significant. You will understand why after reading the below article.
1. Mini OLT,Overall Device Cost Structure
A OLT device typically consists of the following major categories:
Serial No. | Category |
1 | OLT PCBA |
2 | Switching Power Supply |
3 | Fan (or Heat Dissipation Components) |
4 | Housing |
5 | Package |
Except for the PCBA, the overall volume and structural dimensions of 1 port and 2port Mini OLT are almost the same. To enhance material versatility and reduce inventory costs, many manufacturers adopt a unified structural shell and packaging specification for both types of models, with only the PCBA being differently designed. Rayin Technology has adopted this universal design concept too. As a result, the cost difference between 1 port and 2 port models is almost entirely due to the PCBA itself, while the costs of the shell, packaging, power module, and basic peripherals are basically the same.
2.Cost Analysis of OLT PCBA
Let's break down the cost of the OLT PCBA to analyze. The PCBA hardware usually consists of power management circuits, main control chips, PON chips, storage units, as well as peripheral circuits such as RTC real-time clocks and temperature detection devices.
In hardware design, 1 port OLT only carries 1 PON chip, while a 2 port OLT is equipped with 2 PON chips of the same specification. This is the most significant cost difference at the PCBA between the two types of models. The remaining common components such as power circuits, main control chips, storage modules, various interfaces and monitoring circuits have basically the same configuration and cost for both types of models, and will not increase proportionally with the increase in the number of PON ports.
Serial No. | Category |
1 | PON Chip |
2 | Power Circuit |
3 | Main Control Chip |
4 | Storage |
5 | Auxiliary Circuit |
6 | External Interface |
7 | PCBA |
From this, it can be seen that the costs of the main control chip, power circuit, PCB itself, etc., are basically the same for 1-port OLT and 2-port OLT. The cost difference between the two types of machines almost entirely comes from the price difference of the PON chips. The PON chips are also the most crucial variable item in the cost.
3. Summary
Based on the above cost composition, it is not difficult to calculate that for the Mini OLT with universal design, the cost difference between the 1-port and 2-port models mainly comes from a single PON chip and its support peripheral circuits. The price difference usually accounts for a range of 20% to 30% of the total cost, which is far from half of the price difference range.
If there is a situation in the market where the price of a 1-port OLT is only half of that of the 2-port model of the same series, it is definitely not a simple "one less PON chip" normal price difference. It is likely that the manufacturer has made reduction in specifications for the common hardware of the entire machine. For example, cutting off basic operation and maintenance functions such as RTC real-time clock and temperature monitoring, reducing the number of PCB layers, simplifying heat dissipation and protection design.These extremly low cost 1-port models are essentially downgraded products. Although they seem to have a lower unit price, they differ drastically from standard models in environmental adaptability, operating stability and functional integrity.
When purchasing OLT, do not merely compare unit hardware prices, nor make purchasing decisions based solely on paper specifications. Rayin Technology’s Mini OLT always show true parameter labeling and never sacrifices product performance to cut costs. Rayin Technology provides free technical assessment services to help you match the functions required by your project and avoid long term operation and maintenance risks caused by insufficient device performance. If you need complete product solutions and technical white papers, please visit our official website: www.szrayin.com.
