News and perspectives from the world of fiber optic networking

Article

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

Don't lock yourself out of your data

Proprietary data structures and closed vendor ecosystems of yesteryear are out-of-date. Today’s enterprise applications are increasingly defined on standard data structures. It’s all about openness and collaboration.

Telecom companies often focus on how hard or easy it is to get data into an asset management system - rightfully so considering ease of use is key to user adoption and quality data. But is the potential pain of adopting a new system really worth the reward? Our easy answer: yes.

Article

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

End-to-end economics of digitizing the outside plant

In the context of digital transformation, data management of conduits, strands, poles, manholes, and other elements of the outside plant have not typically been part of the discussion about the “digital network”. As network services become more dependent upon an increasingly complex network architecture, the physical network data has become more crucial for making business and operational decisions. Obtaining, documenting, and modeling the connectivity of this changing and extending network has not been easy.

Article

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

Automated Networks ≠ Autonomous Networks

To thrive in today’s hyper-competitive market, engineering companies need to transform their own work processes to the speed and data requirements of their telecom customers. They need to guide the evolution of their work processes since they cannot uproot everything at once. There will remain a need for human subject-matter-expertise, even as companies strive to reduce costs and increase flexibility. Because of this, a question frequently being asked is how engineering companies can begin to achieve better business results while moving toward automation and getting high-value expertise from their team members?

Article

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

Equipping your organization to manage complex networks

Telecom companies use the data about their physical network for asset management such as network utilization, availability, and risk mitigation. The nature of fiber networks, where cables of different count strands can be connected, and different services are delivered on different wavelengths has made network management systems built for copper and coax networks inadequate. So what is needed now for you equip your organization to make better, more informed decisions?

Article

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

Management solutions for the life-of-the-network

The network is a multi-generational endeavor. It is ever changing from copper and coax to fiber and wireless. From planning and designing routes and rolling out construction crews, to operating and eventually expanding the network to accommodate new offerings, service providers are looking to streamline their view and management of all their assets at every stage of their use. To ensure they are getting the greatest value out of their network, an advanced network management system will have to be implemented. But what does it mean to have management solutions for the life-of-the-network? And how is that kind of solution established?

Article

• Fiber network construction
• Telecom technologies

Bringing fiber to the city: cable de-coring

Are you ready for another new fiber deployment method? We’ve been focusing on technologies and methods being developed for fiber network densification projects in preparation for 5G, IoT, Smart Cities, and more. Thus far, we’ve touched on micro-trenching, and 200µm fiber and collapsible ribbon. This week’s topic: cable de-coring.

Getting permits approved. Rerouting traffic. Interrupting pedestrians. Digging up and repaving roads. It all sounds fun right? Not so much. 

Article

• Fiber network construction
• Telecom technologies

Bringing fiber to the city: 200µm fiber and collapsible ribbon

This series is centered around technologies and methods being developed for network densification projects as communities across the world prepare for the 5G revolution. This push for higher speeds and lower latency has driven the creation and implementation of many new technologies and construction trends that will allow for easier deployment of fiber networks. The first trend we discussed was the use of micro-trenching in infrastructure construction. If you missed that post, you can read it here. This week, we’ll discuss the use of collapsible ribbon and 200µm cables.

Article

• Fiber network construction
• Fiber network design and automation

How to build a framework for changing your engineering workflow and adopting machine-prescribed designs

Simply put, change is hard. In a business environment with customer requirements for faster deployments and reduced costs, along with more complex technologies and hardened available staff, the path to change seems inconceivable.  Yet, survival requires change. 3-GIS | Prospector planning and design applications can deliver the change you desire, and will address speed, costs, complexity, and resource issues. To help you make the change, we are sharing the six steps we have learned from experience implementing a human-in-the-loop network engineering process that combines 3-GIS | Prospector with network design engineers.