NICK NAUGHTON INDIGO Q&A
THE VIEW FROM INDIGO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
The best-laid plans tend to be the most effective, particularly when it comes to networks. With fibre replacing copper, incumbents and altnets rolling out FTTP and support for 5G and IoT, network design and planning has never been more important. To find out what goes into effective fibre network design and planning, Optical Connections editor Peter Dykes sat down with Nick Naughton , 4site UK projects Director, part of the Indigo Telecom Group.
importance. We utilise things like ultra- lightweight fibres and bundled microduct means you can get thousands instead of hundreds of fibres into the trench. The plastics suppliers are all moving towards supplying that need and they have a lot of different types of ducts and compact fibre enclosures available already.
How do you design and plan a fibre optic transport or access network and at what point does
Infrastructure Access] and that opens up the duct and pole access to a lot of the Altnet fibre operators, some of which will build from scratch. We plan, design and build from scratch using new trenching where we’re permitted. It’s really a combination of PIA and new trenching that makes these rollouts possible. Once the fibre architecture has been confirmed, we get our materials and specifications and make sure we use the best material suppliers. Following this, we look at our protocols to see exactly what we put into the ground. It’s also vital to ensure the network is futureproofed for the next generation of capabilities that come into the fibre networks. For example, currently, we roll out a lot of GPON, but that’s moving up to 10 gig capability i.e. XGS-PON, so you want to make sure that the infrastructure is going to support both the migration from one to the other without having to invest new capital to support future networks. At present, capacity in the ground or in the air is of the utmost
OC
Indigo get involved?
On projects where we design from scratch, we start with a feasibility study. Upon completion
NN
we present this as a business case, offering a range of options like what size of footprint does the customer want to cover and how far do they want to extend the reach of the fibre network. In Ireland, we are working on the SIRO project and the newer NBI project [National Broadband Ireland], where 4site, as part of the Indigo Group, is currently surveying & designing fibre networks across the country. Then you look at what exactly is the driver? If it’s a government initiative, as we’re seeing in Ireland, then we use a different range of planning criteria. Once completed, we examine the existing infrastructure. In the UK we have Openreach’s PIA [Physical
Do you specify to a customer which suppliers they should use?
OC
This is customer dependent. We work with very knowledgeable clients who know exactly what
NN
they want to build. They’ve done all of the homework, double checked everything, they know the architecture they are looking for and their target market. In that case, we go straight to survey and design. Sometimes, however, we add our expertise by providing extra support or even consultancy to the customer by scoping design and materials. It really depends on the clients’ requirements.
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| ISSUE 22 | Q4 2020
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