Communication between a burst manager and plural remote terminals over a first passive optical network (PON) and a second PON, with each PON having a downstream portion and an upstream portion, includes transmitting a common synchronization signal from the burst manager to the plural remote terminals over both downstream PON portions and transmitting burst data from the plural remote terminals over both upstream PON portions to the burst manager. The burst data for each remote terminal is delayed on the first and second PONs by corresponding first and second delays. The first delay includes a first ranging delay and the second delay includes a second ranging delay wherein the first and second ranging delays for each remote terminal are adjusted with respect to the common synchronization signal such that the burst data for any particular remote terminal transmitted on the first PON arrives at the burst manager simultaneously with the burst data for that particular remote terminal transmitted on the second PON in the same relative timeslot position.