The optical fiber to the home (FTTH) is criticized for its delay and its long established. Many critics have made but few seek to understand and explain what happens. Here is an attempt to decrypt.
The optical fiber represents a significant investment, it is currently mainly for housing: buildings. The reason is quite simple: the deployment of fiber for several apartments, the costs are divided. So dense areas are targeted first by the operators. That is why the explanations that follow are based on the example of deployment for buildings and apartments. The principle of FTTH for houses is similar but the conditions are less explicit mutualisation by ARCEP and operators.
What is optical fiber to the home?
To begin a drawing which explains briefly the principle of optical fiber to the home. The scheme is explained in more detail in the following in particular about 2 types of architecture.
As you can see, the principle is quite simple: to link directly the apartment of the subscriber to the Internet via an optical fiber from the apartment to a room called NRO (Node Connection Optics ) which are all connected subscribers. The equivalent of the NRO in the current telephone infrastructure (telephone lines with a pair of copper of France Telecom) is the dispatcher or call NRA (Node Connection Subscriber). The fiber optic cable between the NRO and the home is called optical local loop (the copper telephone line is called local loop copper).
Where it becomes complicated is in the first place there are several technologies involved and there were several operators: therefore pooled investments: the work done and fiber deployed to reduce these investments (this could cover more area faster in particular).
The 2 families FTTH Technologies in the P2P FTTH PON and FTTH
There are basically two types of deployment of optical fiber to home deployments in P2P - Point to Point (Peer to Peer is in french, Peer to Peer or point to point) and deployments in PON (Passive Optical Network). With a roll-to-peer (P2P), each home has its own fiber optic up to NRO. With a deployment PON, an optical fiber from NRO and is divided into 64 fibers, 128 fibers and more fibers are connected to the homes of subscribers. The PON can be seen as a tree whose trunk is the optical fiber that is connected to the NRO and the branches are optical fibers connected the homes of subscribers. Some operators have opted for a technology rather than another and others are torn between two or believing that technology is more efficient in the city and the other more effective campaign.
The advantages and disadvantages of these 2 families technologies are the subject of endless debates. ARCEP (Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques and Postcards) and the government chose not to settle for one of two technologies. As this is not the subject of these explanations, we will not go no more in this debate or in the details of these technologies.
The point is that the existence of these 2 technologies complicates sharing: share its infrastructure, it is impossible to use equipment on a P2P infrastructure PON. Against the opposite may be possible: it may well make the PON with a P2P infrastructure, the "cutting" is the level of NRO. It may very well be against sharing infrastructure point to point with another operator wants to point to point, this is addressed in a second time.
Comment on mutualisms then?
All is not lost! You can still share a good part of the investments necessary for the deployment of fiber optics. To switch from fiber to the home, it is NRO and it is up to the apartment. There are not many solutions: sewers (only in some large cities), the sheaths of France Telecom last few months and if you have to "open up" the streets to ask new fork. It is sometimes necessary.
Sharing fork
Small rapid definition of a sheath is a tube or a sleeve where you can get coaxial cables (used for example by Numericable), electric cables, telephone or fiber optics.
Regarding the fork of France Télécom, he currently serves in particular to bring the telephone lines into the home. In recent months, following the demand for Free and ARCEP, France Telecom provides operators offering fork which came into effect shortly. It allows alternative operators to use the existing fork from France Telecom for deployment of fiber to the home. France Telecom already used them before, and the alternative operators (Free & SFR) have used so far mainly sewers (only in some large cities) for deployment of fiber optics. France Telecom is the main operator holding a fork with Numericable to a lesser extent.
This sharing sheaths can be realized over the entire horizontal part of the deployment. The horizontal part means the part between the NRO and the foot of building. On this part of the fiber optic infrastructure may be different (P2P or PON), they can not be shared if they are of different types. Thus the fiber optic deployment is not shared on this part for operators deploying infrastructure types.
After a somewhat difficult start sharing fork by the incumbent operators others have recently noted the effective implementation of the reference offer of France Telecom on access to its fork. Mutualization is en route to this part of the deployments and ARCEP will continue to monitor developments in this offer and the conditions for its implementation.
Mutualisation of fiber on the horizontal part of the same type of infrastructure
As against, for operators wishing to make a deployment point to point (P2P), they can share their infrastructure, it is sufficient that the operator wants to use optical fibers already deployed its equipment installed in the NRO (or near). For example, the supply of mutualisation Free provides an offer of resale in NRO (in addition to sharing in building up).
Only PON deployments in the current state of things (this change may be in the future with shared wavelength discussed at the end of the article) do not allow sharing at the physical level of fiber deployed until 'length of building.
Pooling in the building: the end
If you look at a diagram of PON deployment, we can see that in the building (the part that is called back end of deployment), there is an optical fiber necessary per flat, like a P2P deployment. Finally! We can share the deployment in the building! Thus an operator is deploying optical fiber in each apartment building until the foot and the other operators can directly connect the foot of building.
During discussions between operators and ARCEP, Free has proposed a solution mutualisation in buildings: the multifibre. At first glance the solution and is amazing when you thought you just said that it may be a good solution.
What is Multi?
Caution: Because of the complexity of the topic, it is possible to believe that the Multifibre corresponds to a deployment and that the P2P monofibre corresponds to a PON deployment or it is not. The monofibre applies equally in both PON and P2P in the multifibre applies P2P that PON.
The Multifibre to exist between the foot of the building as the apartment and fibers to each subscriber that there are operators. Here, at first sight is astonishing: there is more sharing on the back end. One wonders then what it really is apart from increasing the cost of deployment at the end. Just imagine the life of the optical fiber over several decades beginning with the deployment and how many operators will be arriving in foot building.
On the number of operators arriving foot building is fairly simple to calculate if a point to point operator is already present in a building, another trader wishing to deploy point to point does not have much interest redeployed to go until the fiber foot building, it can connect directly to the NRO. As against an operator who deploys type PON infrastructure must go to building up and other operators may PON pool at the logical level (see below) with this operator since it is the solution generally adopted by pooling operators currently PON. This is an operator and an operator P2P PON foot building, or 2 operators and 2 fiber per apartment. Investments to go down the building is substantial and the number of buildings is also a result, one should not see 2 operators per building (may be in Paris and in some very dense).
This photo shows a box with 2 fiber fiber (below), so an installation multifibre
So when deploying fiber in the building, the operator raises 2 fibers per apartment, it connects to one of the two and the day when another operator arrives, it is sufficient to connect at the bottom of property to the remaining fiber for each apartment. It therefore does not require that a final foot building where an operator comes up building. No intervention (except for possible interventions SAV) will be required to foot building. Only the wiring is necessary to NRO and the connection to the proper perspective in the apartment of the subscriber (the subscriber can do with a box with 2 outlets), just as with the telephone lines currently, when you order ADSL, it is necessary that France Telecom makes a connection to the NRA.
This photo shows the components of a FTTH (Multi) with the subscriber box located in the flat (top left photo), fibers that descend into the riser of the building (right), and Finally enclosures operators (which is building up), 1 for each operator, each of 2 fibers from an apartment is connected to one of these boxes.
To further compare with the existing telephone lines, if you look at your phone box, you can see on your phone you have pairs of brass and more (even surplus). And this is reflected on the different parts of your telephone line leading to the telephone dispatcher. This allows for multiple phone lines (with couplers mother) or to use another pair of copper if a pair is faulty.
As against the single-fiber, whenever the subscriber changes its physical operator (operator at the foot of building), the intervention of a technician at the bottom of the building is necessary.
Now, if you have the settings, you can make a small calculation:
cost of installation monofibre (1 fiber between the apartment and the building up) + cost interventions technicians building up over tens of years (the local loop fiber is supposed to last) = total cost single fiber
cost of installation multifibre (2 fibers between the apartment and the building up) = total cost multifibre
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