Leveraging Existing Building Cabling Infrastructure to Meet the Needs of

FTTH/FTTP Rollout in MDUs

Mathew Cook, RCDD,OSP Stephen Cumminger, P.Eng, MBA

Bell Aliant’s Service Territory • Third largest Telco in Canada • Operates in six provinces

• Ontario & Quebec territory shared with Bell Canada

• Population served: 5.3 million • NAS : 2.9 million • Employees: 8,000 • Revenue : $3 billion • High Speed Internet

Footprint: 80% • High Speed Internet

Customers : 830K • 2010 FTTH Footprint : 140K • 2011 FTTH Footprint : 460K

AB BC

YT NT

NL

NB ON MB SK

NU

PEI NS

QC

Ontario (regional)

Quebec (regional)

Nova Scotia New Brunswick Newfoundland Prince Edward Island

You are Here !

Agenda

• Introduction – What are we going to talk about ?

• Challenges we faced – What were we trying to accomplish

– Why was this difficult ?

• Techniques we used to overcome these challenges – By situation

• Questions?

Introduction

• Bell Aliant’s FibreOP service requires fibers to be brought to each unit of a multi-Tenant building.

• This fiber originates at one of our Central Offices and terminates at a customer’s unit.

– 1x32 optical Splitters are in the optical path at the appropriate point (within the MTU or in the local Fiber Serving Area)

• We use the generic term MTU – Multi Tenant Unit that includes both Residential and Business customers; each with their own challenges.

• We allocate sufficient fibers in the FTTH footprint area to service a building, but we don’t provision an MTU building immediately.

• There are separate processes used to determine when and if a particular building is provisioned with fiber

– Cost and relationships with Building Owners is key

Optical Network Terminal (ONT)

Small interior or exterior box with a separate power supply mounted indoors (integrated battery for power back-up for approximately 8 hours)

Fibre Feeder

PON OLT

Fibre Drop Tel PC TV

Central Office (CO)

ONT Optical Network

Terminal Ethernet Switch

Central Splitting Point (CSP)

Distribution Fibre

Central Office

PON OLT (Optical Line Terminal)

The OLT interfaces with our core IP network to deliver voice, data and TV services to our customers optically via the FTTH network

VoIP

IPTV

HSI

VoIP

IPTV

HSI

Central Splitting Point (CSP)

A compact pole mounted box housing optical splitters which enables a single feeder fibre to serve multiple customers

Distribution fibre Cable Plant Fully connectorized fibre access network which enables quick installation of fibre drops to a customer’s home.

The distribution fibres are assembled per our specifications with all fibre breakouts spliced and tested in the factory

ONT Power Supply

Fibre to the Home (FTTH) – Key Network Components PON – Passive Optical Network

Optical Wavelengths 1490nm 1310nm

Challenges

• Greenfield. Few problems except: – Finding the best way to deploy fiber using the

Electrical Contractor for the building. • What part do they do, what part does another

contractor do.

• What contractual and financial agreements are required.

– We don’t want a Greenfield Building to become a Brownfield Building by accident or mis-management.

Challenges • Business aspect:

– Cost per unit passed is very important. Only the lowest cost projects get funded.

– Bell Aliant has not requested funding assistance from Building Owners yet.

• Building Access – Some Building Owners have relationships with other competing

providers and are not motivated to accept fiber placed into their building.

• Aesthetics – What Building Owners consider acceptable with respect to:

• What technical solutions would look like when the work is done • Disruption to tenants,

varies greatly among Building Owners.

This Building Owner had very specific requirements

Challenges

Brownfield Technical Challenges – Can we get fiber to every unit in the building ?

• It is a rare occurrence to find that reusable pathways exist from the building’s entrance all the way to the individual units; with the last leg to the unit being the most problematic.

– We always recommend them, but it is always something seen as a luxury to the Building Owner; so it gets cut.

– Today we see Greenfields being built with only wall cavity support for cables/wires; no pathway.

• For Brownfields, getting fiber to the unit from a place where you can collect many of them (MTR, Satellite Closet…) is THE technical challenge.

MDU Demographic Slide

• Stats about %Townhouses, MDUs, Greenfield… – Brownfield

• % Townhouses, MDU

– Greenfield • 10% of Brownfield

Other Useful Stats for Bell Aliant

• FibreOp MDU program started 3rd quarter 2010

• Currently running projects in 8 cities through the 4 Atlantic Provinces

• Total MDU units passed for 2011 was 7719

• This equated to approximately 180 MDU’s

• Average size of MDU in the Atlantic Provinces is 42 units

• The FibreOp MDU program includes builds in new buildings and existing buildings

Some Learning's Common to all Challenges

• Products used need to be durable and easy to install – Better to have more rugged fiber cabling with appropriate fire/smoke

ratings than need to place conduit to protect them.

• CSP’s need to be designed to allow multiple termination options (one box, multiple termination options within) – Best not to have specific products for splicing and terminating abilities

as the requirement could change during the build, or by floor.

• Utilize existing building infrastructure where possible

• Aesthetics and acceptance by the customer is essential – Our fiber builds go just outside Brownfield Units. Need to get Building

Owner approval for inside wiring methods intended prior to provisioning the building.

• Homerun design versus Riser Consolidation point design is a key decision point to every build.

Products Need to be Durable and Easy to Install Early Thoughts Today

CSP’s need to be designed to allow multiple termination options (one box, multiple termination options within)

Early Attempts Today

Can only splice distribution legs In this CSP

Can splice of field terminate On connectors in this CSP

Utilize existing building infrastructure where possible

• Example of using existing pathway containing copper based infrastructure.

Aesthetics and acceptance by the customer is essential

Aesthetics and acceptance by the customer is essential

Homerun design versus Riser Consolidation point design Early Attempts Today’s Preference

Distribution

CSP

Dual Hallway Multi-Drop(6F) Runs – Each Wing

ONT

ONT

ONT

Feeder

FDT

FDT

FDTFDT

Brownfield Technical Challenges • Running Fiber from the units to aggregation points is the most

difficult and expensive part of a build. – We’ll show you some options that we have used that work in some

types of buildings

• We did find that some buildings had sufficient infrastructure already to handle our FibreOP services. – Where Cat5e or Cat6 cabling existed from the units to aggregation

points. (Assuming 90m maximum loop length)

– This cabling can handle up to 1000Mb/s data speed which is foreseen to address our service needs for up to 5 years.

• Current speed offerings are 30-150Mb/s. • If we need to come back in 5 years and place fiber, it is still more

economic than placing fiber now; if the existing infrastructure can be leveraged.

– This is our Option #1 for Brownfields

MTU Design using Existing Cat5e Wiring (Rack-mounted Splitter)

Feeder Fiber Patched to each splitter shelf’s Feeder Input connector on Patch Panel

52 Parkland

FSA 115a

FD101, 145-240 FNAP-96EW4

ONT/UPS Shelf

Cat5e Terminations

To units

CCS-1U

ONT

Optical Patch Chord CAT 5e Patch Chord

ONT installed as part of the Service Order

Deploy sufficient Fiber Splitter Patch Panels for initial demand, leaving space on equipment rack for ultimate number.

FSC-1N-32-Sa-B

FSC-1N-32-Sa-B

MTU Design using Existing Cat5e Wiring (Rack-mounted Splitter)

• Brownfield Option #1: – If each unit is equipped with 2

Cat5E back to a common aggregation point which is within 90m, use it.

– Consolidate ONT’s in MTR where Cat5E are demarc’d

– RG will be placed in unit using existing Cat5E which has been proved to 1 Gig.

Shelves to house ONT’s

and UPS

Fiber Splitter

Power Bar

Proven Cat5E to

Units

Fiber Splitter

Shelves to house ONT’s and UPS

Patch panel of Cat5e pigtails back to Cat5E Demarc

drops to unit

MTU Design using Existing Cat5e Wiring (Rack-mounted Splitter)

Existing Cat5E to Units Cat5E pigtails to rack

Design Options from the CSP to the Unit

• If new pathways are required (Brownfield),

• Option 2: – If common hallways exist with

drop ceiling (t-bar or Gyproc suspended below actual ceiling)

– Run single fiber drops in that space from CSP to each fiber designation point in each unit

Hatch cut in suspended gyproc

ceiling

Fiber Point of Entry box into unit

All Fiber and Point of Entry boxes are above T-

bar ceiling

Design Options from the CSP to the Unit

• If new pathways are required (Brownfield),

• Option 3: – If drop ceilings do not exist, but

access is possible into attic or basement space and utility rooms are stacked

– Access basement or attic and run multiple single drops through utility space in pathway duct and drop off a fiber to each unit along the way

– Within units, wiring will be demarked in utility rooms

– Works best in Rental units, not in Condos

Duct from MTR to attic containing

individual Fibers

Fiber from the attic space ran down

through the stacked electrical rooms

Design Options from the CSP to the Unit

• If new pathways are required (Brownfield),

• Option 4: – If options 1-3 are not possible

but you do have common hallways, the 3M One-Pass solution would be your option.

– 3M One-Pass can be run along the hallway with a fiber dropped off at each unit, best location determined by MDU design plans and demark location within the unit.

Design Options within the MDU unit

• Fiber placement options are: – Option 1: Fiber should

be placed where the in unit cabling demarks within the unit. Typically this is in the utility room.

Media Panel

Design Options within the MDU unit

• Fiber placement options are: – Option 2: Fiber is to be placed

in the living room at the television location (i.e. desktop solution). This becomes the unit’s new demark/aggregation point.

Questions and Open Discussion

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