Guest Editorial: Next-Generation Optical Access Networks to Support Super-Broadband Services and 5G/6G Mobile Networks

We are pleased to introduce to our readers the following Special Issue (SI) on Next-Generation Optical Access networks to support Super-Broadband Services and 5G/6G Mobile Networks in IEEE Network. In recent years, optical access networks have been playing a growing role in mobile networks and will become even more prominent with 5G/6G due to the demand for extreme bandwidth, coverage, synchronization, and low latency. The success of future mobile networks will not just be about new radio access technologies. The deployment of future wireless technologies will be dependent on the ability of optical access networks to seamlessly connect to radio access networks (RANs) and edge/cloud computing resources. Many technologies are currently being developed for optical networks for convergence and access to increase throughput, improve energy efficiency, and simplify network design, deployment, and operation. This SI is intended to provide recent advances in optical networking technologies, concentrating on optical access networks and the convergence of integrated fiber and wireless access technologies.