The global demand for fixed and mobile bandwidth capacity has risen massively over the past years tirelessly fueled by a) the increasing popularity of Over-The-Top (OTT) video streaming services following a steep growth curve expected to reach 21% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) until 2028 and b) the rise of Machine-to-Machine communications predicted to account for a hefty 50% of the global connected devices by 2023. On top of the skyrocketing capacity demands, emerging 5G and industrial internet applications, classified under the Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) category, are currently posing a new strict latency-oriented framework severely challenging 5G infrastructure and calling urgently for new radical architectural changes directly at the key aggregation infrastructure being in local proximity to the subscribers: the Central Offices (COs). This capacity-latency predicament underlines the need for the employment of innovative technological solutions, with photonics emerging as the key enabling technology, that will establish a new NGCO ecosystem where component-level advancements can yield unparallel architectural benefits.