NTest Releases Study on Fiber Monitoring for FTTH Networks
NTest, a leading provider of communications test and measurement solutions for optical fiber monitoring, has just published a new white paper discussing the use of a Remote Fiber Test System (RFTS) to dramatically reduce the operational expenses (OPEX) to manage the complex FTTH network. Service providers are still using the manual processes they have always used to manage their fiber network and their OPEX costs have ballooned due to the continued dispatching of technicians to the Outside Plant (OSP).
In a Passive Optical Network (PON), the fiber connected to the OLT port is distributed by the splitter into multiple channels to the ONT of different users. The issue remains that the distance between the OLT and ONT is long (in some cases as much as 20 km) and the electronics at the ends of the PON cannot determine the exact location of the problem. "PON architectures are designed without redundancy which means there is no network protection”, stated Troy Veitenheimer, General Manager of NTest. "This also means any fiber interruptions within the PON will take the services down until the problem is resolved. Therefore, providers need the fastest possible tools to quickly isolate and repair problems to minimize downtime.”
NTest’s FiberWatch™ solution uses an OTDR placed at a centralized location to continually test fibers all the way to a subscribers ONT. When a service disruption occurs, an alarm is immediately generated, the exact location of the disruption is identified, a network operator can test the fiber from a central location and a SMS text is sent to a technician in the field with the location of the fiber disruption. Using an existing FTTH deployment model with 2.5 million subscribers, FiberWatch™ demonstrated the ability for a provider to reduce their operational costs by $2,589,103 each month (or $31.1 million per year).
The NTest White Paper "RFTS to Reduce OPEX Costs for FTTH Deployments" is available free of charge at www.ntestinc.com/documents.html. The FiberWatch™ family of products is on display at the FTTH Conference in Orlando at booth PS-411-G.