Systems and methods for operating a passive optical network (PON) extender. The methods comprise: receiving, by the PON extender, a first optical signal from a remote node device of a passive optical network via a first optical link; amplifying the first optical signal using a Raman amplifier of the PON extender to obtain a first Raman amplified optical signal; amplifying the first Raman amplified optical signal using a first optical amplifier of the PON extender to obtain an amplified uplink signal (wherein the first optical amplifier is different than the Raman amplifier); and passing the amplified uplink signal to an optical line terminal via a second optical link (wherein the optical line terminal is disposed locally at a hub site along with the PON extender).