Viewpoint
Assuming you have an extensive copper network of which you want to squeeze out every last drop of bandwidth. Where should you introduce new nodes/cabinets that are connected with fibre and what technology should you upgrade to? There are so many factors to take into account and only looking at equipment costs (CAPEX) is not the correct way. I would like to clarify some of these factors and address some considerations when investigating an upgrade of your network.
When you want to offer a certain speed over copper it comes down to two elements: distance and active equipment. The speed is depending on the distance, bring fibre within 700 m of the customer and you can offer approx. 100 Mbps, lower it to 100 m you can go up to 500 Mbps over your existing copper. Of course, to get to higher speeds you need the right type of active equipment that is capable of transferring the signal. But there are a lot more aspects to deal with when you want to deploy these new technologies.
Local conditions
An important question – and a question where a lot of people unfortunately don’t know the answer to – is, what is the quality of the copper cables that are in use at the moment? Will it be capable of providing the high speeds you have in mind? Attenuation and crosstalk are crucial parameters affecting the bandwidth achievable over copper, but depend on the type and age of the cables.
When you’re trying to assess the costs of an FTTx deployment you need to know what infrastructure is reusable in the area for laying fibre, be it poles or existing conduits. This will affect the costs of your project.
Not having the correct data and info could lead you to the wrong conclusions and overrunning your budget when building your network.
Costs: CAPEX vs OPEX
Take into account both CAPEX and OPEX when comparing technologies and deployment scenarios.
CAPEX can be broken down in different categories: costs for civil work (e.g. trenching), cabinets/active equipment and cables/ducts. Underground deployment is very costly in most parts of the world, if you are able to use existing ducts or aerial deployment this will benefit your project. The cost of the cabinet or new node is determined by the size and the active equipment needed for the chosen technology. The cost of the cables and ducts depend on the amount of fibres needed to serve the new nodes and the spare capacity you want to foresee.
OPEX consists of powering and operation costs on the equipment. Choosing an FTTx scenario implies feeding the active elements in the network with power, either with remote powering or local powering. An interesting new option for powering is reverse powering –
from the customer premise. The usability of this option depends heavily on the amount of users and the distance to the user. There will also be operational costs tied to the equipment that is placed: the cabinet and the active equipment inside.
Revenue: Competition and time to market
When deciding on the FTTx scenario you need to assess the projected revenues. Consider what your competitors are doing in the area and what your current share of the market is in that area. What do you expect the customer behaviour to be when you come with a better offering in their neighbourhood? Combine this knowledge with the cost information to strengthen your business case.
Time to market is crucial, you need time to think out your strategy on FTTx but you don’t want to be late to the game. Considering the scenario with the least amount of trenching needed will allow you to move faster in deployment, however do a proper analysis of different deployment and migration scenarios and think of the end goal.
Not everybody is invited to the broadband party
What percentage of the area do you want to cover with the network upgrade? Serving more customers will have an impact on both your costs and revenues.
There will always be users out of reach to offer a certain speed. It is not economically viable to guarantee every single user is e.g. within the distance of 100 m and can benefit from 500 Mbps or more. You need to make a trade-off between the coverage and the money you are willing to spend. Lower coverage means lower costs but also unhappy customers and it is crucial to know how the costs change in relation to the coverage. When you have this information at your disposal you can make a well-educated decision on your future deployment plans.
Existing customers will be served by the existing copper and you will have to introduce new nodes in the network that are fed with feeder from the Local Exchange. However not every home in your area will be within reach (red dots) of a new node as this is not economically viable. How many do you leave out, that is the question?
Technology and customer diversity
Don’t feel obliged to rely on one technology only. Depending on the local conditions you can decide to go for a FTTH, FTTB, G.Fast or HFC (if you have a COAX network) scenario. Investigating all options on an area-per-area basis will bring the highest return on investment in the end.
Treat the various types of "customers" (residential, business, antenna locations,..) differently when rolling out your network. While upgrading your network and laying new fibre for the new nodes foresee P2P connections to the businesses or antenna locations at the same time. This will come at a higher cost for your initial deployment but will be more interesting in the long run.
Future upgrades
Never lose sight of the end goal. Make sure that you dimension your network properly and foresee spare capacity where needed. Work out your migration plans to offer even higher speeds in the coming years and consider new developments that may come to the area that don’t want to be left out.
As you see, there are a lot of factors to be taken into account. If you want to learn how FiberPlanIT can assist you in your FTTx project please contact us.
FiberPlanIT was a proud sponsor of Gigabit Copper 2016 and hosted a round table discussion. Read all about it here.
