Why Remote ONT Management is Your Secret Growth Weapon

Lessons from Liquid Labs on OMCI, Tenda HG6, and how ISPs can work around vendor limitations

Ever wondered how the big ISPs always seem to have their act together when it comes to client retention?

I was given an eye-opener early in 2024 by Hans Haerdtle, former Liquid Telecom CEO and now one of the program managers at Liquid Labs Kenya.

Here’s the thing, many low-and medium-tier ISPs struggle to scale, while top-tier ISPs thrive with tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of subscribers. 

Why? 

The secret lies in how they manage customer equipment and service issues.

Let’s face it, no one is immune to network downtime. 

Sometimes a customer forgets their WiFi password. Other times, they want to kick out a rogue neighbor who’s piggybacking on their WiFi. 

Then there are billing issues, say a client misses a payment, gets disconnected, and calls back furious when their WiFi doesn’t reconnect after clearing the bill.

If you don’t have the right systems in place, each of these problems forces you to dispatch a support team onsite. 

That quickly becomes unmanageable, and expensive, when you start growing beyond a few hundred clients.

Hans introduced me to the concept of Operations Support Systems (OSS), which underpin how top-tier ISPs, like Safaricom, keep operations smooth. 

Remote management of ONTs, the customer-premise devices that terminate fiber connections, is a critical part of this. 

Without it, your ISP will always struggle with high costs, slow service recovery, and eventual customer churn.

👉 Curious how these principles play out in the real world? See how Safaricom has leveraged Huawei and Nokia ONUs to scale fast, streamline operations, and tighten its grip on Kenya’s fiber market. Read the full story here: How Safaricom Leveraged Huawei & Nokia to Dominate Kenya’s Fiber Market.

How ONTs Are Normally Managed

In a GPON/XPON network, the ISP’s OLT (Optical Line Terminal) manages ONTs (Optical Network Terminals) remotely. 

This is done using a protocol called OMCI (ONU Management and Control Interface).

Through OMCI, the OLT can:

• Configure the ONT (WAN settings, VLANs, QoS, etc.)
  
• Monitor performance in real-time
  
• Push firmware and security updates
  

All without sending a technician onsite.

Vendor Implementation Differences

Now, here’s the catch. Even though OMCI is standardized (ITU-T G.988), different vendors like Huawei, ZTE, TP-Link, or Tenda often add their own extensions or interpret the standard differently.

For OMCI to work smoothly, the OLT needs a profile or template tailored to each ONT model. 

That template basically tells the OLT, “Here’s how to talk to this ONT.”

When Vendor Support Is Limited: My Tenda HG6 Experience

Toward the end of 2023, I imported a consignment of Tenda HG6 N300 WiFi XPON ONTs, which were becoming popular among Kenyan ISPs. I hoped they’d be suitable for a proof of concept (PoC) Liquid Labs was running under Microsoft’s Airband Initiative.

Hans put them to the test, but hit a wall. 

The problem? 

Tenda does not publish the OMCI details for the HG6.

That meant Hans couldn’t build a reliable OMCI management profile for it. 

Without that template, the ONT couldn’t be remotely provisioned or managed by the OLT. 

Configuration could only be done manually through the web interface or CLI, a dealbreaker for any ISP trying to scale.

Common Workarounds ISPs Use

So, what happens when OMCI support is limited or unavailable? Top ISPs don’t just give up, they adapt. 

Here are the common workarounds:

1. Use TR-069 with an ACS (Auto-Configuration Server)
   
   • Some ONTs support TR-069 (also known as CWMP), which allows remote management over the internet instead of OMCI.
     
   • This is great for things like WiFi SSIDs, passwords, and firmware updates.
     
   • The limitation? It doesn’t always handle deeper GPON parameters like VLAN or GEM port settings.
     
2. Run the ONT in Bridge Mode + External Router
   
   • The ONT is used purely as a GPON-to-Ethernet bridge.
     
   • All routing, WiFi, firewall, and QoS features are handled by an external router that the ISP can fully manage.
     
   • This way, the ONT only needs to authenticate with the OLT, and the ISP keeps control through the router.
     
3. Leverage Generic OMCI Profiles
   
   • Some OLTs ship with default OMCI profiles that can talk to most ONTs at a basic level.
     
   • With trial-and-error, ISPs can sometimes make ONTs work for internet services, but advanced features like IPTV or VoIP may not be supported.
     
4. Simplify the Service Offering
   
   • Some ISPs choose to limit unsupported ONTs to internet-only services.
     
   • This avoids the complexity of provisioning multiple service layers (like IPTV and VoIP) that need deeper OMCI integration.
     
5. Stick With Vendor-Aligned Ecosystems
   
   • Finally, many ISPs simply avoid brands that don’t publish OMCI details and standardize on vendors like Huawei, ZTE, or Nokia.
     
   • The initial cost may be higher, but it saves massively in operational headaches down the line.
     

The Big Picture

The lesson from Hans was clear that remote ONT management isn’t optional, it’s the backbone of any growth-focused ISP. 

Without it, costs balloon, customer experience suffers, and churn becomes inevitable.

If you’re an ISP planning to scale, factor in OSS and ONT remote management from day one.

Otherwise, you’ll always be stuck playing catch-up against the bigger players.