JOHN WILLIAMSON ODN DEPLOYMENT
technician-uploaded photographic imagery of fibre connected to end user terminals. DIGGING IT Schlegel says another cost-saving installation technique is micro trenching. This procedure involves saw-cutting roadway surfaces to place cable/inner duct with only a 3-inch trench and 12-inch backfill. “The potential cost savings of this technology are particularly beneficial to avoid drilling and opencut in rocky or mountainous areas,” he reports. But, here again, there may be a pitfall. “However, the long-term maintenance costs of this type of installation could be higher due to the shallow trench,” allows Schlegel.
as it requires less planning and personnel and reuses existing infrastructure. There may be some negatives, though. While endorsing the positive benefits of aerial cabling, the literature of other FTTx suppliers accepts sometimes there may be issues around fibre strain, adverse environmental effects, and potential damage from wildlife or accidental human activity. FOR THE RECORD Along with prefabrication and pre- connectorisation, reduced deployment times and lower operator expense can result from the use of digitalisation techniques such as digital labelling. Traditionally ODN record keeping was paper-based and prone to error. It was also time consuming for an installation technician to make the correct fibre-to- port connection, or laborious in the case of a second engineer being required, to rectify erroneous first-time fibre–to-port connections. Lively describes how an engineer had sometimes to go out and make a repair to restore service, and be faced with the task of literally testing dozens and dozens of fibres to find the one at fault He characterises this set-up as being akin to operating “…a grocery store without barcodes”. “The promise of all this digital labelling and record keeping is that all of that becomes simple,” explains Lively. “You have an accurate database and you have an app on your phone and you go out there and it tells you exactly where the problem is. It’s a huge efficiency improvement.” ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are other technologies that are advancing the cause of improved ODN deployment and installation. In this context, AI can support a spectrum of applications. “AI can advise the correct deployment method within an area,” remarks De Craemer. “Service providers can use machine learning to assist with planning projects, based on the information gathered by installation crews to make informed decisions around the planning process. AI/ML can also assist in hands-on installation tasks. An example is automating the analysis and trouble-shooting of
that pre-connectorised hardware has a cost penalty, and thinks you have to do more intensive and precise network pre-planning of posts, type of boxes and splitters per location per level. Lively has another take on any pre- connectorised plant cost premium. “If you consider the cost of the hardware alone – yes,” he reasons. “If you consider the cost of installation, it’s much cheaper because you don’t have to send a van and a highly trained tech to go out there and splice the things in a controlled environment. You just plug and go.” David De Craemer, VP, EMEA Sales, Network Cable & Connectivity, Commscope, reckons a key industry development in pre-connectorised solutions has been the introduction of hardened connector technology. De Craemer agrees that, previously, fibre splicing required technicians with specialised training to complete the highly skilled, manual process. “Hardened connectivity eliminates the need for splicing and drastically minimises the technical skills that were once needed, meaning deployments are faster, easier, and cheaper,” he counters. And there’s more. “A new industry development making its way into the market now is a ‘universal hardened connector’, a connectorised solution that is inter-mateable with any installed base, making the further expansion of the networks less complex,” adds De Craemer. Meantime, Engel advocates the combination of pre-assembled cable and blown fibre installation systems. “Network technicians can splice and blow in the cables from a central location - such as the street cabinet or PoP,” he remarks. “As required, they can then blow in the fibre optic cable pre-assembled on one side, as only ordered connections are installed.” Connectors are subsequently added. POLE POSITION? Pre-connectorised solutions also feature in the construction of aerial ODNs. Realising last drop connectivity with overhead links can have a number of plusses. R&M literature describes how, using overhead cabling and existing telephone and electricity poles, FTTH can be rolled out two and half times faster than with underground fibre. Aerial can be more cost-effective than underground cabling
LICENCE TO FILL? Some of the factors limiting the
deployment of FTTx ODNs might appear impervious to being alleviated or rectified by enhanced installation plant, tools and technologies. Ritz, Schlegel and De Craemer all instance the securing of permits as a main challenge. “Increasingly, local utility and municipality permit approvals are hindering the deployment of FTTx in many municipalities,” asserts Schlege. Deployments on protected land and historic preservation sites may be particularly troublesome. Notwithstanding the overall limitations of technology to directly address the issue of streamlining the granting of permits, it’s plausible to suppose that the use of items like smaller, more discrete and more aesthetically designed plant such as cabinets could, in some circumstances, improve the acceptability of service provider FTTx proposals. NEXT IN LINE? There’s FTTx industry consensus that the future ODN installation landscape will feature equipment with optimised packing densities, simplified design, higher levels of automation and faster deployment capabilities. Life could get easier for installation personnel, but there could be a career limiting catch. “In the future we’re
going to see fibre for residential communications becoming more
consumer-like, where you don’t need a technician,” predicts Lively. “They mail you a box, you plug it in and it self-initiates to the network.”
Thomas Ritz Market Manager Public Networks, R&M.
(Image: HUBER+SUHNER) André Engel Managing Director, tde GmbH.
John Lively Principal Analyst, LightCounting.
Erich Schlegel President and CEO, Fujitsu- TrueNet Communications.
David De Craemer VP, EMEA Sales, Network Cable & Connectivity, Commscope.
www.opticalconnectionsnews.com
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ISSUE 33 | Q2 2023
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