FTTH Conference 2013

Workshop
Standardization & Economics for FTTH/FITH Networks

Installation/Migration strategies
for FTTH/FITH Networks

Edoardo Cottino
ITU-T SG15 Q16 Rapporteur

London, 19th february 2013

 ITU-T SG 15
FTTH/FITH Standardization activity

The standardization of products and installation techniques

relevant for the deployment of FTTH has been addressed since
more than ten years by ITU-T under a global umbrella:
products, planning, deployment and maintenance

This includes the development and updating of standards for

the construction of the physical layer of the access network
and the customer premises

The activity related to optical infrastructures and products is

under the leadership of Study Group 15 WP2 “Optical
access/transport network technologies and physical
infrastructures”

Care is taken in the harmonization of standards with

different Institutions, in particular with IEC TC86 and its WGs
Q.16 “Optical physical infrastructure and cables”

This Question includes the study of new cable constructions for different
applications: underground, in ducts, aerial and customer premises.
In force Recommendations on cable construction

L.10 Optical fibre cables for duct and tunnel application (12/2002)

L.26 Optical fibre cables for aerial application (12/2002)

L.43 Optical fibre cables for buried application (12/2002)

L.58 Optical fibre cables: Special needs for access network (03/2004)

L.59 Optical fibre cables for indoor applications (01/2008)

L.60 Construction of optical/metallic hybrid cables (09/2004)

L.67 Small count optical fibre cables for indoor applications (10/2006)

L.78 Optical fibre cable construction for sewer duct applications (05/2008)

L.79 Optical fibre cable elements for microduct blowing installation (07/2008)

application

L.87 Optical fibre cable constructions for drop application (07/2010)

Q.16 “Optical physical infrastructure and cables”
This Question address the investigation of new cost effective solution for
the construction of the infrastructures and for cable laying.
In force Recommendations on installation techniques

L.35 Installation of optical fibre cables in the access network (10/1998)

L.38 Use of trenchless techniques for the construction of underground
infrastructures for telecommunication cable installation (09/1999)
L.39 Investigation of the soil before using trenchless techniques (05/2000)
L.48 Mini-trench installation technique (03/2003)
L.49 Micro-trench installation technique (03/2003)
L.57 Air-assisted installation of optical fibre cables (05/2003)
L.61 Optical fibre cable installation by floating technique (09/2004)
L.73 Methods for inspecting and repairing underground plastic ducts (04/2008)
L.77 Installation of cables in sewer ducts (05/2008)
L.82 Optical Cabling shared with multiple operator in buildings (07/2010)
L.83 Low impact trenching technique for FTTx networks (07/2010)
L.84 Fast Mapping of Underground Network (07/2010)
L.88 Management of poles carrying overhead telecommunication lines (07/2010)
The next study period 2013-2016
 The updated Q.16
“Outside plant and related indoor installation”
Study items will be considered include, but are not limited, to:
The suitable optical access network for urban and rural areas, taking into
account the optical fibre demand and the expanse of area
The key considerations for indoor and outdoor network design taking into
account planning and growth
The strategies for constructing new infrastructure and expansion of
existing infrastructure, taking into account integrity of installation, maintenance
and growth issues
The mechanical and environmental characteristics of the optical
infrastructure for the FTTH networks
The suitable methods to enter the user premises and for installing optical
fibre cables and other network elements in common parts of the buildings
The features needed for BDP (Building Distribution Point)
The techniques to construct and manage the fibre network inside the
apartment
The techniques for managing the building network
The regulatory issues to be considered for fibre deployment
 Outside Plant infrastructures challenges

It represents the prevalent cost in the customer connection. With

traditional techniques is in the range between 60% (in urban areas) and
90% (in rural areas) of the total plant cost.
The trend of miniaturization of the optical cable structures as well as
the availability of low bend fibres allows the reduction of the ducts
dimensions and, consequently, of the dimensions of the road cutting
To pave the way to FTTH, Telcos are looking for technologies allowing:
To re-use as far as possible the existing infrastructures (even
if partially occupied by other cables)
To minimize the environmental impact by means of reduced
dimension diggig techniques (or no dig at all!)
To reduce the skill of manpower

ITU-T SG15 is going to work on the standardization of all the

available technologies to enable FTTH development
 Optical cables miniaturization trend

The reduction of diameter and weight of the microcables allow

the installation in very small ducts with air blowing.
The same products can be installed in overhead plants or on
building facades.

Traditional cable Microcable

 96 o.f.  144 o.f.
 Diameter 15 mm  Diameter 8 mm
 Weight 200 Kg/Km  Weight 50 Kg/Km
 Bending Radius 210 mm  Bending Radius 160 mm
 Winch installation  Air blowing installation
 Infrastructure miniaturization trend

In the same way also the dimensions of ducts can be reduced.

In this new scenario large dimension road cuttings are
unnecessary, as sections of several cm or some tens cm are
sufficient.

TRADITIONAL MINIATURIZED

Diameter 10/14 mm
(inner/outer)

Outer Diameter 40
or 50 mm
 Installation of ducts and cables in
existing infrastructures
Outfitting of existing ducts (telcos, street lighting, power..) with microducts and
use of completely dielectric microcables

Separation of the telecommunication access points with the use of reduced

dimensions manholes
Fast solution for mapping underground networks

It should detect univocally underground services and display in real time

the 3D results about buried utilities
It should be user friendly, with a man-machine interface that helps also
not skilled people to understand the results
It should geo-reference traces and they should be imported in a GIS
system or in a CAD file
 Low impact trenching techniques

Installation of microducts inside a small dimension trench: width

less than 5 cm and depth in the range 20-40 cm
Use of low environmental impact trenching machines
Use of new material to empty the dig to avoid road restoration
Reduction of “environmental costs” and “social costs”
All the activities permit to open and close the working site in
the same day

Trench saw
combined with
suction machine

Innovative material before and after

hardening completed
 ”Light” No-Dig

It is a guided drilling technique with small machines (also for

use in manholes) for the laying of a  40 mm single duct, equipped
with 4 miniducts and with anti rodent protection

Advantages Drawbacks
Ease to obtain permissions Need of a georadar survey
Zero impact on environment and traffic Dependance on the soil type
No need of expensive road restoration
Short Term solution: FTTCab “Fiber to the Cabinet”

“Market-driven” solution more

conservative than the FTTDpoint (low cost
“upfront”) and reduced risk of the
investiments
Immediate cabling in primary optical
network (up to the distribution cabinet)
Opex have few changes about the
copper network, because failures are
expecially in the secondary network
Very suitable for areas with middle
urbanization from technical point of view
Only some Clients, asking speed internet
connections, are connected through Fiber
To The Home link
Needed power supply to the cabinet the
electric
Not always suitable to meet the target
of 100 Mb/s
FTTCab could have some limitations,
both plant and regulatory expertise, in
denser urban areas
 Short Term solution: : FTTDp “Fiber to the
Distribution Point”

“Market-driven" solution less

conservative than FTTCab (high cost
"upfront")
Immediate cabling in primary and
secondary optical network (up to the
distribution cabinet)
The FTTDp solution uses the existing
copper of building in unbundling
Respect the objective of 100 Mb/s
Power supply from the customer
home (or stairway lighting, etc.).
Costs and risks higher than the
FTTCab , because of more time needed
for the implementation
No foreseeable plant or regulatory
limitations in dense urban areas
Standard configuration not yet
available and proprietary solutions are
existing
 Existing building infrastructures challenges

The most critical issues of the FTTH deployment are related to the
cabling of existing buildings, especially in metropolitan areas, due
to:
• Limited availability of TLC infrastructures
• Trouble in obtaining permissions for installing “at sight”
solutions

ITU-T SG15 is working on the standardization of all the

new products
accessories
test methods
and installation techniques
optimized for the “existing buildings scenario”
Real scenarious in buildings….
Optical cabling in buildings: different approaches

Shared optical building cabling for all operators

(when multiple "optical access networks" are deployed)

Example of cabling solutions in buildings: both the

riser cable or the drop cable could contain one or Individual building cabling for each operator
more fibres for each customer depending on the
chosen architecture
 Telecom Operators’ Constraints
& Optical Components Key Features
 Conclusions

The success of the FTTH challenge relies on the possibility for all the
Players to build up a the state of the art infrastructure with, most reliable,
cost effective and homogeneous technologies. For this purpose
STANDARDS are needed.

In the last ten years of activity, ITU-T produced about 40

Recommendations related to FTTH physical layer; in the next study
period (2013 – 2016) will be address fibers reliability items, cost effective
installation techniques, cables and materials for FITH.

The set of Recommendations, Handbooks, Technical Reports

produced, will speed up the FTTH deployment, allowing to the FTTH
Players to make the correct choices for the implementation of a future-
proof optical fibre access network.

Relationships with other Standardization Bodies are mandatory in

order to harmonize standards and avoid duplication of efforts.
 Thank you!

e.cottino@sirti.it