ERICSSON DEEP FIBER ACCESS

A focused offering within Full Service Broadband

Access infrAstructure for the services everyone wAnts

Personalized. Interactive. On Demand. High Definition. Anywhere access. That’s what Full Service Broadband can do. And it does it with the things people want: high-speed Internet, IPTV and video services fueled by the transition to HDTV. So it’s easy to understand why operators want to build and upgrade networks to Full Service Broadband. Today’s networks must be built to provide more and more bandwidth. So deploying optical fiber deep into ex-isting and new access networks – or all the way to an end user – is the logical solution.

the high-speed chAse is onDeep fiber access provides powerful broadband connec-tions so that users can connect to even more devices si-multaneously, conveniently and to the broadest range of services. Communities benefit from a superior infrastructure that creates opportunities for local businesses and helps boost the economy. That’s why governments around the world recognize fiber access networks as a question of strategic regional or national importance. Operators and access providers that deploy deep fiber access will be able to expand and bundle service offerings while reducing the capital investment otherwise required to build multiple, single-purpose networks. They’ll also benefit from a future-proof network with maximum reliabil-ity, all while reducing operating expenses and increasing revenue opportunities.

It doesn’t get any faster than fiberreAdy or not?

Thanks to innovations within fiber-laying and fiber-blowing techniques, building fiber access networks is now a cost-effective alternative to traditional copper-loop, fixed ac-cess networks. Incumbent telecom operators are usually involved in deployments that entail a massive roll-out of fiber. So it’s not surprising that they’ve been behind some of the largest and most challenging IPTV deployments to date. But a number of alternative access providers are also building fiber access networks. In many countries, utility companies, municipalities and property developers are becoming active players. And governments and munici-palities are playing an important role in providing the regu-latory framework. It’s not uncommon that these providers build unbundled or open networks that are operator-neu-tral and allow for numerous service providers. Open networks can follow several different business models. You can invest in the passive infrastructure and lease access to the fiber. You can invest in the active in-frastructure such as fiber access nodes and switches and buy access to the passive infrastructure. Or you can be one of the service providers that pay for the infrastructure to get access to, and revenue from, end users. Even tradi-tional telecom providers begin to move into open networks and offer channels for content distribution to various ser-vice providers.

choosing fiber Access technology The commercial success of your Full Service Broadband network can be measured in many ways. It must meet or maybe even exceed the terms of your business plan. It has to deliver what your subscribers want. And it has to break-even early and pave the way for future profits. In order to do all this, the overall fiber strategy has to be care-fully considered.

we’re with you from squAre one Fiber access is a challenging mix of technology choices, business models and regulatory issues. There are no easy answers and there’s no single best solution on the market today. Which option is best for you usually depends on your available business models, your bandwidth dimen-sioning, outside plant options, labor costs, geography and national regulatory constraints. Our advice is to regard your fiber access plant as a valuable asset that should be considered a long-term investment and dimensioned with sufficient capacity to provide future flexibility. If properly designed, the service life of a modern, fiber-optic cable plant should exceed 25-30 years. Compare that to the 3-8 years expected lifetime of the active equipment deployed. With more than 40 years in the fiber-optic cable indus-try, Ericsson has the experience required to make sure that

Get it right from the startyour needs are met and that you reach your goals. A part-nership with Ericsson also means a wide range of benefits. We’re a true end-to-end supplier of complete fiber access solutions that include business and technology consult-ing, solutions analysis, network design services, passive and active infrastructure and competence development. We provide project management and ensure efficient so-lutions integration, data migration and multi-vendor veri-fication. And our involvement doesn’t have to end with implementation. Our managed services also encompass network hosting and operations. Our open approach means that we offer solutions for point-to-point (P2P) Ethernet over fiber or CAT5 and point-to-multipoint (P2MP or Passive Optical Network, PON) based on GPON with an option of using VDSL2 in the last drop. A Full Service Broadband network includes features such as Quality of Service, multicast support, end user traffic separation, service differentiation, high in-service performance and a telecommunications management so-lution. That’s how we can help you deploy a future-proof solution whatever your individual network requirements may be.

There is no doubt that deep fiber access is the future-proof solution for ultimate broadband. Once deployed, a fiber access plant provides unlimited bandwidth that is only lim-ited by the capacity of the active equipment – which can easily be upgraded as technology advances. But there are lots of tricky decisions to make along the way there. Take, for example, the discussion of P2P fiber versus PON. Ericsson considers P2P fiber and GPON-based P2MP to be complementary approaches. Both of these tech-nologies could very well be used in the same network to provide a comprehensive and flexible access solution.

bAlAncing cApeX And opeXDeep fiber access deployment often requires a consider-able upfront investment, mainly due to expenses tied to civil works. However in some cases, opportunities to re-duce OPEX can justify the transition from older access technologies to deep fiber access or a decision to use FTTH instead of FTTC. In some places it has been pos-sible to reduce OPEX with 40% to 60% as compared to the costs of operating copper access networks. It all

FTTH is the future – it’s just a matter of timedepends on the quality of the existing copper network and whether an operator is ready for an upfront investment in future technology or just prefers to upgrade the existing network.

copper And fiber In many ways, copper and optical fiber complement each other. An operator might have a broadband copper net-work for the access and an optical fiber network for the backhaul. VDSL2 is an excellent option for services over existing copper from a building basement or a nearby street-side cabinet. For incumbent operators, a typical installation uses GPON for new (greenfield) suburban homes; VDSL2 for existing (brownfield) apartments and suburban homes; and dedicated P2P fiber gigabit services for corporate and business customers.

p2p fiber And gpon P2P fiber provides symmetrical bandwidth and dedicates a single fiber for each end user. This enables easy and in-dependent customer management and flexible upgrades.

A key benefit is service transparency – or the ability to provide any service irrespective of other network users. It’s also a mature technology often used in open networks with FTTB or FTTH architecture. P2P fiber is normally used by the alternative access providers, primarily due to its relative simplicity and ease of deployment. GPON is a P2MP technology where a single fiber is shared by several users via an optical splitter. GPON provides a centralized approach suitable for deploying fiber in an access network. It’s usually favored by incum-bent operators and new entrants for larger deployments. GPON offers the best performance and is currently the most widespread PON standard developed to meet the increasing need for higher bandwidth and new innovative services. The overall CAPEX and OPEX costs for P2P fiber and GPON technologies are fairly similar, especially in green-field deployments. The civil works aspects are similar and neither P2P fiber nor GPON require active equipment in street-side cabinets. P2P fiber requires more fiber and extra rack space for distribution frames, but reduces costs for in-exchange fiber handling and splicing. GPON saves on fiber, power consumption and floor space in the Cen-

tral Office, but incurs costs for splitters and splicing. P2P fiber offers simpler and less costly active equipment while GPON requires fewer active interfaces. Again, there is no single best total solution on the mar-ket today and Ericsson considers P2P fiber and GPON to be complementary technologies.

secure AccessP2P fiber provides optimal security as it involves a sep-arate, dedicated path between an exchange or Central Office switch port and the end-user premises. P2MP in-volves a shared path from a single exchange or Central Of-fice switch port to multiple end-user premises. To protect individual data, more advanced security mechanisms are required. That’s why our GPON P2MP solution includes security features such as a 128 bits AES (Advanced En-cryption Standard). Ericsson’s fiber solutions provide a wide range of other advanced security features like IP validation, Virtual MAC and forced forwarding. These features prevent unwanted broadcasts and uncontrolled peer-to-peer traffic, unau-thorized access to sensitive information, theft-of-service attacks, spoofing and other abuses.

mAnAged services And integrAtionEricsson has the telecom industry’s most comprehensive managed services offerings. They range from designing, building, operating and managing day-to-day operations of a customer’s network to hosting service applications and enablers. Our services are tailored to an operator’s requirements, no matter if it’s about migrating to new tech-nologies, managing legacy networks or entering a new market. Ericsson doesn’t just have the active and pas-sive products, but also has a service organization totaling 28,000 service professionals and 12,000 subcontractors. Our solutions are fully integrated so that all fiber ac-cess plant, fiber management, aggregation switches, ser-vice definitions, network policies, distribution and core networks are identical, irrespective of the actual access technologies deployed. This greatly simplifies the deploy-ment, operation and management of a network while al-lowing standard services and a common customer experi-ence across the network.

pAssive infrAstructure A fiber cable network is a long-term investment that needs to reside on a scalable and future-proof technology that’s optimized in terms of capacity, quality and operational ex-penditures. Ericsson has worked with many operators to reduce the costs of civil works and fiber cable plants. An exam-ple is the pioneering innovations in laying fiber and using blown fiber technologies for aerial and underground de-ployments. Ribbonet® and Micronet™ are Ericsson’s estab-lished and cost-effective blown fiber systems. Built to last, they deliver unlimited bandwidth capacity as well as the capability to grow with user needs and new user additions. To reduce installation costs, Ribbonet® and Micronet™ can be co-located with existing power or conduits infrastruc-tures. Our passive offering also includes traditional opti-cal fiber cables, ducts, optical distribution frames, splicing equipment and other installation accessories. Ericsson has a world-leading track record in success-fully managing complex infrastructure projects including 3rd party contract management, quality, risks, permits, regulatory aspects and frequent changes. Our passive network deployment and integration services include cus-tomer project management, network design, permit and lease management, site engineering and civil works. An installation comprises all activities to implement the fiber, splitters and distribution frames and the work is inspected and documented to guarantee proper quality and to fulfill the contract.

The complete deep fiber access offeringActive infrAstructure

Ericsson has a complete Full Service Broadband offering that’s optimized for deep fiber access for both residen-tial and enterprise applications. Our portfolio comprises a full range of equipment including end-user devices, fiber access nodes, aggregation switches, metro nodes, edge routers and management systems. Our active fiber offering is based on Ericsson EDA Fiber Solutions, or more specifically, on our EDA 1200 and EDA 1500 product families. EDA 1200 includes solutions for ac-tive Ethernet over fiber or CAT5. EDA 1500 is Ericsson’s GPON solution and includes our optical line terminal (OLT) and a range of advanced optical network terminals (ONTs). GPON can easily be integrated into existing copper net-works by using VDSL2 in the last drop. Our compact out-door site solutions are optimized for cost-effective VDSL2 roll-out with an up to 30% CAPEX reduction on cabinets. For Metro Ethernet aggregation, the EDA portfolio also in-cludes a cost-effective Ethernet aggregator (EMN120) as well as a more advanced aggregation switch (ECN430). For end-to-end management and operational support, our active network solution supports an integrated Busi-ness Support Systems (BSS) and Operation Support Sys-tems (OSS) approach. The BSS/OSS solution is designed with an open access business model in mind that allows an efficient business between different network operators and service providers.

pArt of A broAder offering Deep fiber access is one of the cornerstones of Ericsson’s Full Service Broadband. This offering supports seamless connectivity on fixed and mobile access networks. With our unparalleled end-to-end capability, Ericsson is well po-sitioned to take on the role of prime integrator. We offer a single point of contact for both business and technology transformations and can manage complex multi-vendor, multi-technology deployment and integration projects.

Access Nodes Concentrates individual access lines into a smaller number of feeder lines.

Active Components that require electrical power to operate.

BPON Broadband Passive Optical Network. Flavor of PON.

CAT5 Category 5 cable. A twisted pair cable often used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet.

CPE Customer Premises Equipment. The part of a distribution or access network that is located on the customer’s premises.

EPON Ethernet Passive Optical Network. Flavor of PON.

GPON Gigabit Passive Optical Network. Flavor of PON.

HDTV High Definition TV

FTTB Fiber-To-The-Building. Optical fiber runs to a central point of a building.

FTTC Fiber-To-The-Curb. Optical fiber runs to a platform/cabinet placed in the curb near the end users.

FTTH/P Fiber-To-The-Home or Fiber-To-The-Premises. Optical fiber runs directly onto the customer’s premises (living or office space).

FTTN Fiber-To-The-Node. Optical fiber runs to a cabinet serving a neighborhood. The cabinet is placed far from the end user.

IPTV Internet Protocol TV

Passive Components that require no electrical power to operate.

PON Passive Optical Network.

P2MP Point-to-multipoint. Several users share the fiber via a splitter. Uses a Passive Optical Network.

P2P Point-to-point. One user per cable. Also known as active Ethernet or EFM (Ethernet in the First Mile). Uses an Active Optical Network (AON), in which each CPE is connected to an active port in the switching equipment.

VDSL2 Very High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line. Uses existing copper plant and enables higher speeds by reducing the loop lengths.

Glossary

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