News and perspectives from the world of fiber optic networking

Article

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network management
• Fiber network design and automation
• RDOF

5 reasons asset management system is needed for RDOF fiber deployment

While there are many challenges that arise during any fiber optic deployment, construction and reporting requirements and deploying fiber in rural areas bring some unique challenges to RDOF projects. One of the most important actions that you can take to meet these challenges is to invest in an asset management system that can meet your current needs and scale with your changing business operations. 

Video

• Press

SSP Announces 4th Acquisition: 3-GIS

Skye Perry, SSP Innovations
Dustin Sutton and Tom Counts, 3-GIS 
SSP Innovations, along with our financial partner, Warren Equity, has been active in the M&A space over the last several years focused on adding competency to our company around our key utility and telecom verticals. This trend has continued into 2020 and we are truly excited to announce that on December 23rd, 2020, SSP Innovations closed a deal to fully acquire 3-GIS thus adding the company’s industry-leading telecom products, people, and customers to SSP’s portfolio.

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network design and automation
• Telecom technologies

Unleashing the power of configuration

Streamlined, efficient business operations is a top goal for telecom organizations around the world. Effective network management systems  fit your unique business environment and allow your team to get up and running quickly, reduce swivel-chair turns, eliminate bandaid workarounds, and decrease operational delays. The key to reaping these benefits? Using your configuration control to unleash the power of the application.

We sat down with Greg Connors, now Technical Product Manager at 3-GIS, but former Technical Lead at Level 3 Communications and longtime GIS specialist, to ask him about his experience with different systems with varying degrees of configurability. Check out what Greg has to say:

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network design and automation
• Telecom technologies

Using automation to uplevel the accuracy & speed of network deployment

The increasing pace of developing new network technologies means that network providers, managers, and engineers need to document and manage new and complex information, but methods for meeting these needs have yet to be addressed in most existing network management systems. 3-GIS takes the next step in physical network management providing solutions that create and maintain high veracity OSP data that can be leveraged throughout the service providers’ business and operational ecosystems.

Article

• Esri
• Telecom technologies

Esri UC 2020: What we (verb)ed

Last week many of our team members attended the virtual Esri User Conference. In an effort to spread the wealth of knowledge, and frankly, to see how well everyone adjusted to an all virtual conference, we asked them to let us know about their experience at the sessions they attended and the conference as a whole. Check out a few of their favorite findings, remaining questions, and curiosities below:

Article

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network design and automation

Five lessons learned in the permitting process

We’re running the risk of stating the obvious here -- reliable internet access is essential. We’ve all had the opportunity to learn this first hand throughout the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place orders. If you’re a telecom engineering firm, you’ve likely felt the urgency to deploy even more fiber even faster because of the pressure being applied to current networks around the world.

But deploying a fiber network is complex and protracted. From planning to design to permitting, it can take what feels like an eternity just to make it to the construction phase. 

Article

• Fiber network management
• Telecom technologies

Lift & shift to go remote

Communications service providers are seeking ways to increase their competitive edge and accelerate their digital transformation. Their IT managers are under pressure to raise the performance bar to higher speed and scale despite reductions in budget and siloed legacy systems. Recent studies have shown that 90% of companies worldwide are currently utilizing some type of cloud service. From data storage to CRM applications and project management tools, organizations have shifted many of their business operations to the cloud. But what about service providers’ network management?

Article

• Fiber network management
• Telecom technologies

Six pillars of a robust network management system: Part III

Network management systems and processes are broken, which is bad timing for an industry undergoing such tremendous transformation. Innovations that address scale, automation, and intelligence are emerging, but they must be implemented with the big picture in mind. This picture must include the essential and data-rich environment of the outside plant, and must be powered by a management system that is capable of facilitating the desired transformation and promoting increasingly efficient business operations.