Network evolution

Thinking of tomorrow today

After the network is built comes network construction. Network development is essential, because the demands placed on the network are constantly (or will be) changing.

On the one hand, quantitative expansion must be easy to achieve. For example, if, over time, more people in a building wish to use a connection than the connection room dispatcher can provide. On the other hand, qualitative expansion should not present any major obstacles. After all, there’s no alternative to meeting the increasing demands on transmission speeds.

The planning and documentation solution used to work on network evolution must therefore be able to do two things: change or mix different network types, and test different alternatives.

DOCSIS 3.1 has given coaxial cable an unexpected pleasant and long-lasting second spring. With data rates of up to 1,000 Mbit/s, virtually no standard Internet usage reaches its limits – home offices, home theaters, and gaming are all wonderfully stable.

If your home network is reasonably modern, you can simply leave it as it is, run fiber from the basement to the transfer point and implement FTTB. And you won’t have any noise or dirt in your house. So these are two different technologies that need to be managed by the right planning and documentation software.

For example, the German Ordinance on Operating Costs (for residential buildings) stipulates that expansion costs can be passed on to apartment tenants over a maximum period of nine years. This is also possible in the form of a modernization surcharge. But only if expansion and conversion to FTTH take place before 2027.

In Germany, for example, it already makes sense to switch to FTTH relatively quickly. And with the right number of fibers, it might even be possible to create open access before it becomes mandatory.

Of course, it makes sense to examine different expansion scenarios in parallel. The best way to do this is to use a digital twin of the network, which allows you to examine different options, including signal calculations. This allows you to see at a glance the level of penetration at which additional structures should be upgraded or even replaced in a building.

This brings us back to the basis of the decision to undertake the project in the first place. And to the end of the life cycle. Which AND fully covers.