UK’s Gigaclear using EXFO for rural FTTH fiber monitoring
EXFO says it will supply remote fiber testing and monitoring equipment to Gigaclear in support of the UK ISP’s fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployments. The FTTP test equipment is expected to help ensure proper deployments as well as operation.
Gigaclear is rolling out FTTP to rural towns and villages in the UK (see, for example, "Gigaclear awards rural fiber-optic broadband deployment contract to Lite Access"). It has deployed fiber in more than 650 rural communities across the South-West, the Midlands, and the South-East of England. The company has more than 300,000 premises connected to its FTTP network. Meanwhile, it also has plans to reach thousands of additional premises in Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire counties over the next few years.
EXFO says its test systems will substantially reduce FTTP network deployment and turn-up time as Gigaclear pursues its fully funded build target of 500,000 premises by December 2023. Once the FTTP infrastructure is in place, Gigaclear will use EXFO systems to reduce the time and cost necessary for fault-finding and network repair when necessary.
“It isn’t often that you see an opportunity to do something both faster and better, but this is certainly one of those cases. We are pleased to be adopting EXFO’s centralized test system as our primary method of network assurance in our next-generation network areas,” commented James Harrison, chief engineer at Gigaclear. “Combined with our proprietary and tightly integrated test and network data management systems, EXFO’s fiber monitoring technology and iOLM test units ensure our planned network is built accurately and to the quality standards we expect. We’re also able to proactively monitor our network, helping ensure a reliable, dependable service for customers.”
“First-time-right fiber deployment should be the principal goal of all fiber operators as this substantially reduces costly and time-consuming ‘truck rolls’ to fix faulty networks,” added Wim te Niet, vice president, EMEA, at EXFO. “Our remote fiber testing and monitoring solution provides complete visibility across all stages of the network lifecycle, and Gigaclear’s technicians can immediately fix issues before end customers are affected, without having to diagnose in the field, saving time and money overall.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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