Senior Hardware Engineer - Optical Engines R&D

Harmonic's path will be paved with a lot more fiber and AI at the edge. Harmonic expects revenues to grow 10% to 13% by 2030 as it expands its fiber business with both cable operators and telcos while branching into areas such as edge AI compute. September 16, 2026 Amid its transition to a "pure-play broadband company" following the recent sale of its video business to MediaKind, Harmonic is now looking to bring more diversity and durability into the business. That means shifting toward more recurring (and more predictable) revenue and leaning less on sales to its traditional tier 1 marquee customers (such as Comcast and Charter Communications), according to the execs who spoke at Harmonic's investor day. And while DOCSIS and hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) will continue to get plenty of attention, Harmonic's revised strategic focus also means the vendor will be putting much more emphasis on passive optical network (PON) technology for both cable operators and telcos, and on edge AI/compute platforms for deployment in cable headends and hubs and telco central offices. Underpinning it all will be cOS, a software platform Harmonic initially developed to support virtual cable modem termination systems (vCMTS) that has also been adapted to orchestrate and manage fiber-based networks. 50-Gig PON viewed as a 'pivot point' Harmonic's access network business is also evolving toward fiber. Initially, that strategy centered on cable operators that deployed PON for network edge-outs; rural, subsidized builds; and multiple-dwelling units (MDUs). But Harmonic is also expanding into the world of telco fiber, starting largely with non-tier 1 operators. The company expects to generate about $70 million from its fiber business in 2026. Though "DOCSIS will continue to be a major engine for us," Harmonic is ready to tackle the telco market in a "serious way," said the company's president and CEO, Nimrod Ben-Natan. Harmonic intends to go further up market with fiber products when operators are ready to deploy 50-Gig technology in earnest. The transition to 50-Gig technology, which is expected to take hold in 2028 and 2029, will serve as Harmonic's "pivot point" into the tier 1 telco market, said CFO Walter Jankovic. Harmonic's bigger emphasis on fiber and growing the telco business will put it in more direct competition with Adtran and Calix in the US, and elsewhere with Huawei and Nokia, Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold pointed out in a research note. Targeting data centers and the AI edge. Harmonic will be keying on non-residential PON tech that can support connectivity in the data center and enterprise markets, and effectively serve as an alternative to point-to-point Ethernet. Tied in, the vendor will focus on the edge compute opportunity as cable operators and telcos free up space in headends, hubs and central offices that sit close to subscribers and have ample power and space to support the compute needed for AI applications. "This is more of an edge inference [opportunity]," Ben-Natan said. "It's not about the quantity and the capacity of hundreds of thousands of GPUs. It's more about what's really important to be at the edge." Notably, Comcast and Charter/Cox are already pursuing this part of the market. Last week, Comcast announced it is integrating Fastly's software into its national network to reduce latency and improve video quality and prepare for emerging latency-sensitive AI services. But that won't be where Harmonic will focus its AI edge efforts. Ben-Natan noted that Harmonic will provide an aggregated offering targeted to a "longer tail of customers" that do not have the in-house resources to deploy and support their own edge AI compute platforms. Setting a 'floor' for revenue growth. Harmonic put some numbers behind the vision for how it sees its business changing in the next three years. Although the company has not yet determined the size of the addressable market for the edge AI compute opportunity, it forecasts an addressable market of $6.4 billion to $7.4 billion by 2030 for connectivity (DOCSIS, fiber and data center/enterprise) and "intelligence", a category of software-based and AI-assisted products designed to help operators monitor, manage and repair their networks. The "floor" Harmonic is targeting for compound annual growth from 2026 to 2029 is in the range of 10% to 13%, Jankovic said. That forecast does not include any fiber business with tier 1 operators, 50-Gig tech sales or any potential upside coming from the edge AI compute market. "The outlook sounds reasonable and conservative; however, gaining traction with telco operators, as well as security sales with network management software will present challenges," wrote Raymond James' Leopold. Diversifying the business is a big focus going forward. About 37% of Harmonic's revenues currently are derived from what it calls rest-of-market (ROM), a segment that does not include Comcast and Charter. Harmonic expects that figure to rise to a range of 55% to 60% by 2030. Recurring revenues from intelligence. Harmonic also expects about 22% to 25% of total revenues to be recurring, a portion of which will come from the new intelligence products and services, including Harmonic's recently announced "SensAI" platform, which is already being used by operators such as GCI and Hotwire. Harmonic expects about 10% of total revenues to come from the intelligence category over the next three years. "The key message is we're funding these investments organically," Jankovic said. "It's more than building a bigger business; it's building a more durable business." Some analysts asked what Harmonic will need to do to get the right people on board to pursue cable and telco business. Ben-Natan said a growing percentage of new employees have already been coming from the "pure telco" side of the business, along with a subset that have experience across both cable and telco. "This is a capability that we already have...and we're going to expand that," he said. Ben-Natan acknowledged that pursuing tier 1 telcos is a "different ballgame," but he reiterated that it's an area Harmonic is not pursuing until the 50-Gig PON opportunity is ripe. "But engaging with [tier 1] customers is not something new for us," he said. Operators also taking diverse paths. Harmonic's focus on both PON and HFC reflects how its customers are moving forward. Indeed, operators' strategies vary widely. Bluepeak, a cable operator in the Midwest and Great Plains, for example, originally planned to upgrade its HFC plant to DOCSIS 4.0 but later decided instead to upgrade the bulk of that footprint to PON. "It was a pretty big shift for us," Cash Hagan, Bluepeak's COO, said on an operator panel held during the two-hour investor event. But he pointed out that Bluepeak could still use the same underlying cOS platform regardless of the access technology it is deploying. Meanwhile, Armstrong, which operates in the Northeast, is focused on PON but is also working with Harmonic for upgrades of its DOCSIS networks, said Eric Svenson, the company's VP of technology engineering and operations. Mediacom Communications is deploying XGS-PON in some targeted areas, but it is largely focused on providing multi-gigabit symmetrical services via upgrading HFC networks that pass about 3.1 million homes. Mediacom operates across 22 states, primarily in the Midwest and South. "We felt like we needed to do it really quickly. That's what kept us attracted to the DOCSIS roadmap," said Mediacom CTO JR Walden. Mediacom has already upgraded more than 650,000 homes connected to HFC and has deployed north of 700 nodes powered by new "unified" DOCSIS 4.0 silicon from Broadcom. "If we had adopted a fiber-to-the-home-first strategy, an overbuild strategy, we don't think we would've gotten to nearly that many homes" in the same timeframe, Walden said. In addition to providing more speed and capacity, Walden also believes that next-gen DOCSIS technologies perform well in areas where PON tends to get high marks. "An upgraded DOCSIS network is every bit as reliable as a PON network, at least the way we see it," he said. Senior Editor, Light Reading Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X, LinkedIn and Bluesky. Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers. Want more Light Reading stories in your Google search results? Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

Adtran Networks stock dips as new Praruh deal underlines optical networking focus. Published on 09/03/2026 at 21:11 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS Adtran Networks stock came under pressure in the SDAX on September 3, 2026, even as a fresh framework agreement with Praruh Technologies highlights the Munich group's role in open optical transport and secure data networking. Adtran Networks (ISIN DE000A14U784) stock traded weaker in Frankfurt on September 3, 2026, with the SDAX-listed share down 1.31 percent to 22.60 EUR according to data from the German market overview as of the afternoon session. Stock moves lower in SDAX while long-term performance stays positive. According to the SDAX performance snapshot compiled by finanzen portals on September 3, 2026, Adtran Networks SE shares were quoted at 22.60 EUR, marking a decline of 1.31 percent on the day and placing the stock among the weaker components of the small cap index. A comparative performance table on a major US financial portal shows that the ADV.DE listing of Adtran Networks SE has still gained 6.07 percent year to date and 10.11 percent over the past twelve months as of September 3, 2026, underlining that the current setback comes after a period of positive longer term performance. New Praruh Technologies framework agreement extends hardware and software business. Fresh corporate news comes from a business agreement disclosed by Praruh Technologies Limited, which reported entering into a framework contract with Adtran Networks SE to procure telecommunications hardware, software, and related maintenance services. As detailed in the ScanX announcement dated September 3, 2026, the framework terms were executed by Praruh Technologies on August 11, 2026, with the agreement becoming effective upon the date of the last signature and running initially for two years before automatic one year renewals, giving Adtran Networks a multi year revenue pipeline tied to open optical transport and secure data transmission solutions. More on Adtran Networks stock and fundamentals. Read further background on Adtran Networks SE, its SDAX listing and recent figures via our topic overview and the company's own investor pages. Optical transport portfolio as growth driver. Adtran Networks SE is described in the Praruh Technologies disclosure as a Munich based firm specializing in open optical transport networking, secure data transmission, and network synchronization solutions, positioning its portfolio in the core of telecom and enterprise backbones. For investors, such framework agreements in optical transport and synchronization can support equipment orders and recurring maintenance services, adding to the group's order backlog and supporting its role as a European peer to larger global network equipment makers. Adtran Networks share price and market data. In the Frankfurt small cap segment on September 3, 2026, Adtran Networks stock at 22.60 EUR lagged other SDAX names, reflecting the 1.31 percent daily decline yet standing against a year to date gain of 6.07 percent and a twelve month increase of 10.11 percent based on compiled performance data. Adtran Networks key data. * Company: Adtran Networks SE * ISIN: DE000A14U784 * Ticker: ADV * Trading venue: Xetra * Price (as of September 3, 2026): 22.60 EUR * Sector / Industry: Communications equipment / networking * Index membership: SDAX Follow Adtran Networks on social platforms. Sponsored Ad These 5 stocks could change everything in 2026 - do you know them? A brand new special report reveals the 5 most promising stocks for the current year. Find out which assets top analysts have on their radar now and why acting quickly could be decisive. Disclaimer regarding our articles: This is not investment advice, nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell. Information regarding prices, companies, and markets is provided without guarantee; changes may occur at any time. Stock market transactions can result in significant losses. Our articles are created and reviewed, in whole or in part, automatically with the assistance of AI. en | DE000A14U784 | ADTRAN NETWORKS | boerse | 70051183 | bgmi