ELLEN MANNING NETWORK OPTIMISATION
PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE From single fibre to multi fibre, Fujikura’s connectors cater for the varying requirements of the market, such as smaller form factor types, which appeal to installers in big data centres, where space is at a premium. But a key factor common to all networks is the need to reduce contamination, which, according to Leonard, causes 70-80% of network failures or outages Brian Teague, product manager at cleaning experts Sticklers Fibre Optic Cleaners, agrees. “What we try to tell network managers and installers is that cleaning connectors is the easiest problem-solving measure you can take and it will eliminate 80% of
BEST PRACTICE For an infrastructure provider like BT’s Openreach, all of these areas come together in the deployment of a fibre network. “Driving out our fibre network e ectively and e ciently is key to our fibre plans,” says Ian Morse, General Manager - Access Network Engineering and Innovation at Openreach. “Over the past year we have moved from a blown fibre tube network to a solid fibre network using mini cables to maximise space and avoid costly and ine cient civil expenditure.” Additionally, Openreach has focused on using infrastructure such as joint user poles or going overhead to reduce costs and disruption, as well as moving towards a connectorised fibre network, removing the need for splicing. And while the fibre network is “extremely resilient”, cleaning is essential and all of Openreach’s fibre- trained engineers are taught to clean components from connectors to test leads. Considering the di erent areas of optical fibre deployment reveals a world of constant innovation. In Brian Leonard’s words: “Deployment innovation ultimately is all consumer-driven. As demand for higher throughput and grows there is an industry-wide drive towards higher installation standards, so all parties need to find new ways of achieving what our consumers need, whether it is the cables, the joining approaches or the cleanliness of the deployments.”
problems,” he says. And even cleaning can be improved, with the company working to replace traditional paper- based wipes with alternative materials that create less lint, as well as finding ways to reduce unintended production of static electricity, which usually brings its own problems. Sticklers also works with equipment companies to show them how best to inspect and clean their own optical fibre to avoid expensive truck rolls to fix network issues. Teague’s advice: “Do the job right the first time because if you didn’t have the time to do it right the first time you sure as hell don’t have time to go back and fix it.”
Cleanliness is next to speediness: Many installations are in testing conditions so keep the connections clean!
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ISSUE 9 | Q2 2017
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