Having 40% or more of connections already sold before the final delivery also meant that contractors could construct and deliver a network that was, for the most part, ready to generate immediate revenue. And because the network projects were relatively small, the remaining percentage of homes still to be connected and activated after the rollout was also of a manageable size. Often, a spreadsheet or simple database could be enough to track the post-rollout connections.
The massive demand for reliable high-speed connections over the past decade or so has changed all that. Constructing fiber networks is currently more a matter of investing heavily in an inventory of available connections and rolling out as many kilometers of cable as possible to maximize the potential for connectivity everywhere.
But fiber network projects are not only getting larger; they are also becoming more complex as different types of connections are needed across all sorts of landscapes within such large-scale rollouts. Rollout projects can consist of everything, from widespread rural areas to densely populated residential and commercial areas full of high-rise buildings. They need to connect everything from single-family homes to businesses, municipal services, schools, hospitals, and more.
Simple resource management now obsolete
The spreadsheets and simple databases of the past are now long obsolete, of course. The number of activities that still need to take place after the deployment has grown exponentially. The two-fold problem of larger network projects with lower percentages of pre-build market penetration means there are simply too many homes still to be connected at the time of deployment. Add to this the complexity of the large-scale rollout, and it’s easy to see why maximum automation has become a key element of the post-rollout process.
To get the average fiber network fully connected and operational often requires thousands upon thousands of post-rollout ‘last kilometer’ connections. With sometimes as little as 10% of the homes connected to the network as delivered, this second part – getting from homes passed to homes connected – is still a substantial investment for network owners. The lower the costs of getting to full connectivity, the sooner the network can generate a healthy ROI.
Maximum workload efficiency and accuracy
What is needed for today’s post-rollout connections is the type of automated system that can make that work more efficient and provide significant cost savings. Getting from hundreds of thousands of homes passed to maximum homes connected can mean hundreds of thousands of actions that are both repetitive and complex. Not only are the actions themselves complex, but the entire process also requires the accurate collection of data that will be essential during the operational management of the network. The speed and efficiency of maintenance and incident responses later is directly affected by the detailed accuracy of the network data recorded as the connections are made.
Getting from homes passed to homes connected as effectively as possible requires an automated system that can streamline as much of that workload as possible and guarantee accuracy and efficiency. A system that can take the ‘as-built’ network information and then conveniently provide the exact tasks and materials needed for each individual new connection ticket. In other words, a system that can deliver routing calculations, comprehensive task lists and technical details, exact materials and components needed, and the precise status and geographic location information for every single connection.
Then, once those connections are complete, that ideal system can automatically communicate the new data into the network asset management system, so there is no need for manually updating a separate system. As a network owner, fully automating this process ensures that you always have one single source of truth and an up-to-date and exact digital twin of the network available at all times.
HP2HC series boilerplate:
With the size and complexity of FTTH networks and the number of post-rollout connections they currently require, getting from homes passed to homes activated is an expensive, time-consuming process that network owners need to manage as efficiently as possible to accelerate connection ROI. The magnitude of the workload also makes it prone to errors that can quickly multiply across the entire network, and making the operational management phase more expensive as well. Gridsz is an integrated, modular SaaS platform that is designed specifically for streamlining every aspect of fiber network resource management. From monitoring rollouts to service and incident response to reporting and analysis, Gridsz provides optimal automation for every task and ensures your network data is continuously up to date in real time.
