Many service providers have legacy copper cableinfrastructures. Today, they are striving to provide commercial services for small and medium-sized businesses as well as enhanced broadband services to residential subscribers. With limited CapEx and pressure to reduce OpEx, providers are searching for a logical upgrade path that is not possible with just copper cables and is not expensive with a fiber overlay.
Coax and twisted pair copper cables, while adequate for today’s needs, will eventually be challenged to deliver all the bandwidth needed for future services. Let’s face it; more bandwidth-hungry devices are tapping into the networks, with no end in sight. However, fiber is expensive to deploy unless it’s needed immediately. A solution is needed that installs easily, provides an upgrade path and minimizes upfront and Day 2 costs. Industry experience designing and constructing FTTx architectures have shown a consistent inability to estimate the consumers’ insatiable desire for bandwidth and a subsequent underestimation of fiber required in the last mile.
Multiple media installations using coax along with fiber and/or microducts under one sheath provides them with a simple solution with an upgrade path for future growth. This solution provides design flexibility allowing for deployment of coax now or later with fiber deployment now or later. Installing the pathway postpones the expense of the media in the pathway (i.e., fiber until it is needed). This solution allows providers to perform construction once, keeping property owners happy and avoiding multiple construction permits and minimizing OpEx.
If you are a service provider wanting to capture more business services or satisfy the demanding needs of residential customers, you might want to consider the E2O® solution. It provides design flexibility for installing coax now or later, fiber now or later, and empty microducts for initial or later jetting of microfiber cables.
I will be presenting this solution during OSP Expo in Baltimore on October 2, 2014 at 8 am EDT. My presentation “Last Installation for the Last Mile” will explain the cost trade off of additional initial material costs vs. projected future aerial and buried installation costs. Economic, construction, installation analyses and microcable component design are discussed in detail. I hope you will join me in Baltimore.
