As of these date, there is no international specification to clearly guide the number of fibers required for last mile network. We think, the FTTx technology has reached from its luxury status to a necessity status. Broadband is a right of every citizen at least at some parts of the world. Some of the rest of the world might not have matured enough to consider broadband as the right of their citizens, when a large portion of the population is still struggling to get their daily food, cloths and shelter.
Still it is a fact that the countries making progress in broadband has opted for FTTx as the last mile solution. Since there is no specification or consensus among service providers, the number of fibers to be connected to the subscribers is a decision to be taken by the service provider. Some providers use a single fiber to connect each subscriber, while some of them have decided to lay 2 fiber cables. And still there are some providers who have decided to deploy 4 fibers to each home.
Taking a neutral stand point at this complex and varying deployment strategies in the last mile, let us examine what happens with different number of fibers to each home. As per theory, one subscriber needs one fiber. Very simple equation, as we are well aware of optical fiber’s enormous capacity to carry the data. Voice, data, image and video etc can be sent through a single fiber from the central office to the subscriber. The Optical network unit stationed at the subscriber’s home will then divert all those services through LAN cables to respective destinations like computer, television, telephone, video player etc. In practice a single optical fiber carries the data from OLTE (Optical Line Terminal Equipment) to the ONU (Optical Network Unit and sometimes called as ONT, Optical Network Terminal).
Some of the major operators in the world, who are engaged in full scale deployment of FTTH services, use a single fiber cable to connect the last mile. The example is from some major telecom operators in UAE, Japan, Italy, etc.
Two fiber cables are preferred by some of the operators for redundancy purpose. In case a future application requires one more fiber at the subscriber premise, then by changing the connecting device at the subscriber end and splitter end, the spare fiber can be used. The cost of an additional optical fiber in a cable is almost negligible. The cost impact will be approximately lesser than US$ 15 for one kilometer indoor or drop cable. The last mile in an apartment will be around 20 to 100 meters from the Fiber distribution hub placed at the bottom of the apartment and if it is a single dwelling unit the length will be an average of 300 meters or less from underground or pedestal drop closures. The last mile distance from an aerial pole will be much lesser and it comes around 30 meters. So the cost impact per subscriber if service provider choose 2 fiber cable will be negligible. For redundancy purpose, it is quite natural to select a two fiber cable instead of a single fiber cable for the last mile. Some operators in India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, etc needs 2 fibers to each home.
Yet another network configuration requires 4 fiber drop cables to each home. It is sure that, one of the fibers out of four will be spare. The second fiber will be for data transmission that comes from central office. Third fiber might be for security monitoring and related services. The fourth fiber can be given for rent to any of the service providers who does not have their own fiber network. Switzerland, France, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc are some of the countries where telecom operators lay 4 fiber cables to a single home.
While all the triple services such as high speed internet, television and telephone can be streamed through a single fiber, more than one fiber has been a practice with many telecom operators and service providers. There are some cases of shared accommodation within a single house at some parts of the world. This is most common in countries where expatriate communities are larger in number. The expatriate communities with a mindset of not investing more money into infrastructure or spending more money for luxury in the alien country would opt for a shared accommodation if possible. To connect such houses, the fibers can be terminated in a wall mount box and by splicing to a pigtail. Two separate indoor cables can then be deployed to connect the two separate ONUs at different locations. This keeps the security and privacy of the data shared in a single house.
Well justified are all the networking configurations and strategy to lay different number of fibers to a single home. It all depend on what the customer requires and how the service provider plans.
Still it is a fact that the countries making progress in broadband has opted for FTTx as the last mile solution. Since there is no specification or consensus among service providers, the number of fibers to be connected to the subscribers is a decision to be taken by the service provider. Some providers use a single fiber to connect each subscriber, while some of them have decided to lay 2 fiber cables. And still there are some providers who have decided to deploy 4 fibers to each home.
Taking a neutral stand point at this complex and varying deployment strategies in the last mile, let us examine what happens with different number of fibers to each home. As per theory, one subscriber needs one fiber. Very simple equation, as we are well aware of optical fiber’s enormous capacity to carry the data. Voice, data, image and video etc can be sent through a single fiber from the central office to the subscriber. The Optical network unit stationed at the subscriber’s home will then divert all those services through LAN cables to respective destinations like computer, television, telephone, video player etc. In practice a single optical fiber carries the data from OLTE (Optical Line Terminal Equipment) to the ONU (Optical Network Unit and sometimes called as ONT, Optical Network Terminal).
Some of the major operators in the world, who are engaged in full scale deployment of FTTH services, use a single fiber cable to connect the last mile. The example is from some major telecom operators in UAE, Japan, Italy, etc.
Two fiber cables are preferred by some of the operators for redundancy purpose. In case a future application requires one more fiber at the subscriber premise, then by changing the connecting device at the subscriber end and splitter end, the spare fiber can be used. The cost of an additional optical fiber in a cable is almost negligible. The cost impact will be approximately lesser than US$ 15 for one kilometer indoor or drop cable. The last mile in an apartment will be around 20 to 100 meters from the Fiber distribution hub placed at the bottom of the apartment and if it is a single dwelling unit the length will be an average of 300 meters or less from underground or pedestal drop closures. The last mile distance from an aerial pole will be much lesser and it comes around 30 meters. So the cost impact per subscriber if service provider choose 2 fiber cable will be negligible. For redundancy purpose, it is quite natural to select a two fiber cable instead of a single fiber cable for the last mile. Some operators in India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, etc needs 2 fibers to each home.
Yet another network configuration requires 4 fiber drop cables to each home. It is sure that, one of the fibers out of four will be spare. The second fiber will be for data transmission that comes from central office. Third fiber might be for security monitoring and related services. The fourth fiber can be given for rent to any of the service providers who does not have their own fiber network. Switzerland, France, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc are some of the countries where telecom operators lay 4 fiber cables to a single home.
While all the triple services such as high speed internet, television and telephone can be streamed through a single fiber, more than one fiber has been a practice with many telecom operators and service providers. There are some cases of shared accommodation within a single house at some parts of the world. This is most common in countries where expatriate communities are larger in number. The expatriate communities with a mindset of not investing more money into infrastructure or spending more money for luxury in the alien country would opt for a shared accommodation if possible. To connect such houses, the fibers can be terminated in a wall mount box and by splicing to a pigtail. Two separate indoor cables can then be deployed to connect the two separate ONUs at different locations. This keeps the security and privacy of the data shared in a single house.
Well justified are all the networking configurations and strategy to lay different number of fibers to a single home. It all depend on what the customer requires and how the service provider plans.
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