Small high speed network communities are beautiful

As broadband infrastructure climbs up the political agenda, the idea that a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) project needs to be nationwide can be misleading. Smaller community projects – often self-financed by the communities themselves – are mushrooming, supported by software tools with a wealth of networking wisdom, argues Dick van den Dool.

A recent report by the OECD makes a compelling argument for public investment in next generation networks. The authors of the report argue that just a 0.5 to 1.5 percent improvement in public services and utilities - electricity, transportation, transport and health (sectors that represent 25% of the economy) - would justify investments in fibre optic networks. High capacity data networks, enabled by fibre infrastructure, stimulate innovation in the same way that rail and electricity networks drove the boom periods of previous eras. Already, fast Internet is the delivery system for a wide range of media, music and video industries and services.

This argument isn't lost at local authority level. With public services budgets under economic pressure across Europe, the issue is not simply how social communities can be run more effectively, but how public expenditures can be used for future growth. European policy makers get it; national regulators too, but amidst the political posturing the benefits of simply getting up and doing it are gaining interest. That's why it's refreshing to see small communities taking initiatives. In most countries, the fibre backbones are already in place - it's just a question of plugging in. This bottom-up approach was initiated a few years ago in rural Finland, taking the initiative to motivate citizens to finance and construct their own local fibre installations. 

In the UK, where broadband discussion occurs at national level, Draka was refreshingly surprised when participating in an FTTH infrastructure roadshow around the West Country, the North and Northern Ireland, to see that the spirit of taking ownership is gaining traction. Draka participated by presenting its intelligent software tools, integrating GIS technology that eases the burden of putting in fibre optic networks, especially for inexperienced, smaller communities.

One example shown was the recent FTTH network of Berkel & Rodenrijs, a small township close to Rotterdam in the western Netherlands. This former municipality has a population of 23,000 and covers an area of 18.91 km², of which 0.29 km² consists of canals and waterways. There, they completed a successful fibre rollout to 6000 homes, with ease and cost-accountability, using Draka design tools.

The Netherlands (with the highest worldwide Broadband penetration and GDP per capita according to the OECD) illustrates how big project experience can help small-scale projects. Draka's software development started at a time before the Internet. Self-supporting project teams designed, planned and built huge copper telecoms networks, connecting more then one million households in Africa and Asia. This was always done with a minimum of human resources.

Back then, we created not just electronic designs but also the first digital street maps, and the software has since evolved. It makes it easy for inexperienced community planners to face complex questions: what is the best network concept for your area? PON or P2P? How much fibre do I need? What kind of splitter types do I install? A design suite removes this complexity. In most cases the incumbent will already have software in place to operate the network. Now with our Interface Module we are able to transfer all relevant network data for a newly built network from the software to the incumbent in a very specific customisable format without any rework or manual intervention.

Most local authorities have excellent engineers. The software can be used by a single person or for group projects, allowing designer engineers, planners or project managers working on different parts of the project to work simultaneously.  

Inexperience in building a fibre infrastructure need no longer be an excuse for a local authority not to take its digital future into its own hands, to construct a connected community with diverse, rich services for its citizens. From research conducted by the University of Eindhoven, not only public services, businesses and educational facilities benefit from such an enhanced infrastructure, but socially challenged groups may gain too.

Biography

Dick van den Dool, Software Suite Director at Draka Communications, has seen the evolution of a unique suite of software tools. Originally developed as part of the project control process for constructing massive copper infrastructures in third world countries, they are now an integral part of building advanced fibre-to-the-home networks.