FTTH Council whitepaper: role of IT in accelerating FTTH Deployments and Operations

Role of IT


The fibre industry has always considered homes passed, homes connected, and homes activated as variations on the same theme. With earlier rollouts, the emphasis tended to be on Homes Passed. A new D&O committee whitepaper claims we should adopt a different point of view: in order to meet user demand, enable business plans, and reach the EU’s digital goals, we need to effectively maximize the number of activated connections.

“Today, we need to maximise network uptime, increase the number, speed, and flexibility of connections, and provide regular insights related to planning vs. build progress, build quality, and budgets to stakeholders, explains Patrick Faraj, Deployment & Operations Committee Chair, FTTH Council Europe. “IT can be a large part of the solution. However, this requires making the best possible use of data and software processes."

Patrick Faraj

Deployment & Operations Committee Chair, FTTH Council Europe

“Implementing a comprehensive IT strategy covering the Plan, Design, Build and Operate phases offers clear benefits and enhanced efficiency. We thought it would be a good idea to examine the pain points related to each of these four phases , explore potential ways to minimize the challenges and offer some solutions."

“Data and software processes remain underused, possibly because they are relatively new, or simply due to a lack of awareness of available options and advantages. To complicate matters, a wide range of factors need to be considered. These range from optical budgets and remote fibre testing to technician empowerment, finding opportunities to add links and subscribers, and maintaining outstanding as-built records based on actual test evidence with automated tools However, the benefits are definitely worth the additional effort. According to one real-life case described in the publication, the number of Homes Connected can be boosted by as much as 30% by using IT in a smart way throughout all FTTH network lifecycle phases. The more seamless the integration between tools and platforms, the greater the efficiency, and the lower the OPEX.”

The report focuses on Design Automation and Remote Testing in particular. These processes introduce more streamlined, faster processes, with fewer errors at each step. During the ‘Plan’ step of the process, Design Automation and Remote Testing are of particular interest to commercial teams at operators/consultancy firms, focusing on realising speedy deployment and providing better service to customers with minimal outages. In the Design, Build, and Operate phases, these processes offer benefits to the technical teams responsible for design, construction, and operations & maintenance of the network.

“Of course, as networks become more complex, vast amounts of connected devices are added, and more and more functionalities move to a fibre backbone, IT, analytics and automation will continue to become increasingly important! Before long, working without a ‘Digital Twin’ will be unthinkable!”

About the FTTH Council D&O Committee

The FTTH Council Europe D&O Committee is the place where technology experts come together to discuss, debate, and educate the broader telecom ecosystem and help industry stakeholders understand how to deploy high quality full-fibre networks, addressing the large variety of challenges they face throughout Europe.