Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Bowdon]

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/01/how-wightfibre-cut-full-fibre-costs-by-reusing-old-cable-cabinets.html

A new case study has offered an interesting insight into how ISP WightFibre has been able to reduce the costs of their £35m “Gigabit Island” project, which aims to roll-out a 1Gbps FTTP broadband network to cover 53,000 of the 61,000 homes on the Isle of Wight (South of Hampshire, England) by the end of 2021.

At an approximate pre premises cost of £660 the WightFibre deployment would need to be very efficient, particularly given that a lot of the island is quite rural and their existing cable (Hybrid Fibre Coax / DOCSIS) network only has limited coverage.

In keeping with that the roll-out has been split into two parts. The first part will deploy Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) into areas of the island that have never been covered before by the cable TV network (expected to require around 35 new cabinets) and the second part would need to figure out how to convert the existing cable infrastructure to add FTTP (27 live existing cabinets plus a few unused or in repair).

On top of that the operator has previously indicated that building the new network could require some 500,000 metres (500km) of trench to be dug, which would then be laid with 5 million metres of duct and 750 million metres of optical fibre.

The “Conservative” Rollout Plan
– Cowes and East Cowes – January 2019
– Newport – June 2019
– Ryde – March 2020.
– Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor – June 2019 to December 2020

The first part of the roll-out, while extremely expensive, is at least fairly straightforward to understand because it largely involves building a new network from scratch and most of the effort thus comes from the street works side. However the second part, which would require a significant change to their existing cabinets, is more complicated but the potential cost savings could be huge.

Apparently a new fully equipped cabinet can cost upwards of £25,000 on WightFibre’s network and once you add in the other aspects (civil engineering, planning etc.) then this can potentially push the cost up to £100,000 in some areas. Such a roll-out would also take longer due to the usual admin delays involved with getting consent for new infrastructure.

Due to this the idea of installing a new cabinet next to the old one (similar to what Openreach did with FTTC / VDSL2) was rejected as being too slow and expensive (plus many exist on narrow pavements where space is at a premium). By comparison if they were to upgrade the existing cabinets then it would be a far cheaper process that could take hours rather than days or weeks, but doing so wouldn’t be easy.

Out of the 27 existing cabinets many are typically big, up to 18 years old and located mostly on dense urban streets. A lot of those cabinets are also full of existing equipment and it would be a difficult job to re-do everything. Luckily WightFibre’s telecom contractor, ICEE Managed Services, found a way.

    ICEE Case Study Statement

    The changes called for replacement or re-organising of existing equipment and insertion of new devices, the latter being bulky assemblies including power supplies, rectifiers, batteries and distribution panels. This was complicated by two other issues – accommodating the bundled mass of up to 1,700 fibre optic cables within cabinets, plus the fitting of fans to cool the new, hotter-running power supply units.

    Fibre optic cable also brings its own special demands. For a start, bending each one to allow for routing in and out of a cabinet, or connecting up to internal equipment, is not the same as for co-axial copper cables. Copper can be bent through a tight right-angle. Fibre optic requires bigger radii and hence different routing requirements.

    Then there was the question of how to fit large fans, including the cutting of two ventilation apertures – one to bring outside air into the cabinets and another to expel hot air and prevent excessive heat build-up affecting equipment inside.

    Initial design, development and test revealed a further complication – the fans plus new air flows generated noise. In an urban setting with houses close by, decibels had to be suppressed. This was done by ICEE raising the original height of the cabinet roof to accommodate the fitting of sound-absorbing fibre panels beneath. Working on cabinets it had not originally made, the contractor designed and manufactured replacement metalwork. Like the fabric of an old house changed many times over decades to suit new requirements, the cabinets are being affordably upgraded to modern standards.

[Bowdon]

This is quite impressive.

I'm sure OR will start doing this in 8 to 10 years, similar to how long it took them to use the technology Be was using and move it on to the OR network, ADSL2+

OR don't seem to be that ambitious when it comes to new technology.

[j0hn]

I'm sure OR will start doing this in 8 to 10 years, similar to how long it took them to use the technology Be was using and move it on to the OR network, ADSL2+

OpenReach don't put electronic hardware in cabinets for FTTP.
As they already own exchange buildings all over the country with the necessary equipment I can't see them ever following this method.

[ejs]

I'm sure OR will start doing this in 8 to 10 years, similar to how long it took them to use the technology Be was using and move it on to the OR network, ADSL2+

Openreach don't do ADSL. That's BTWholesale.

[niemand]

Once they're done with FTTC Openreach's cabinet count is only going one way and it's not up. Once Ofcom's fixation with LLU is done and they can retire copper Openreach can and likely will be expected to decommission street furniture entirely.

You guys have seen the mess in my current area with a single photo able to take in 2 x Huawei 288s, PCP with Gfast pod and stand-off shell, Virgin MSAN, Virgin power and nodal cabinet and 2 x large VM distribution cabinets.

Do love the people who complain about pole-mounted infrastructure being 'third world'.