Episode 2: the Deployment & Operations Committee

Michael Timmers, Chair of the Deployment & Operations Committee of the FTTH Council Europe, reveals some of the projects in the pipeline of this exciting working group, while highlighting the benefits of joining this centre of excellence when it comes to FTTH know-how:

Without revealing too much of your work plan, what can we expect from the D&O committee in 2023?
The D&O committee is responsible for the publication of the FTTH Handbook: how did it become such an important resource for the fibre community?
What are your views regarding the evolution of FTTH technology?
Generally speaking, what is the profile of the companies joining the D&O committee What do you value the most from your work at the FTTH Council Europe?

Read the full interview below to get the answers to these questions.

Without revealing too much of your work plan, what can we expect from the D&O committee in 2023?

The purpose of the Deployment & Operations committee is to provide the Members of the FTTH Council Europe with expert insights into the latest innovations and trends animating the fibre industry. We regularly organize webinars and produce white papers, often consisting of a high-level technological overview coupled with a practical business case. Our aim is to provide our members with an answer to the important question: “Interesting, but what’s in it for me?”.

Topics of interest for this year center around the role of IT in the future end-to-end process of a fibre operator, from design to deployment, over operation, but even touching upon finance and budget aspects. The vision of the Deployment & Operations committee has always been that the fibre network is an important asset, that should be leveraged as much as possible. As a result, we have outlined how the business case for wireless-wireline convergence is self-evident. This year, we will try to go a step further by showcasing some technological improvements to remove some of the bottlenecks that have slightly held this convergence back, discuss how XGS-PON is ready to support 5G back- and midhaul, and analyse how newer fiber technologies can add fronthaul to this list as well.

In line with this mission, this year’s Deployment & Operations committee workshop at the FTTH Conference will be focusing on the theme of “Fibre for Everything”, supporting the wider sentiment of the council that we should extend the scope beyond FTTH. Past workshops from the committee have always been excellently received and well attended. They provide an opportunity for technical experts to come together and discuss the latest trends they expect to see at the show.

The D&O committee is responsible for the publication of the FTTH Handbook: how did it become such an important resource for the fibre community?

Our flagship deliverable is indeed the FTTH Handbook. The main attraction of this resource is the fact that it is a regularly updated manual that comprises an end-to-end knowledge overview of all aspects related to the fibre industry, from planning, to building and operating highly efficient, future-proof, automated fibre networks. As such, it encompasses a very broad scope of subjects, but it also goes into the details of everything it touches upon, thanks to the multiple reviews and updates which this asset has gone through over more than a decade. For the near future, our plan is to update fewer sections of the FTTH Handbook, but more frequently than what has been done in the past. Please expect some updates around aerial fibre infrastructure this year around!

What are your views regarding the evolution of FTTH technology?

We have seen a spectacular increase in the deployment of fibre networks over the past years. This has mainly been driven by the realization that investments in physical infrastructures continue to pay back well beyond the typical investment horizon operators had been using in the past. When considering a longer time horizon, going for a future-proof technology, that is easy and cheap to maintain and operate, is the real key. Fibre therefore becomes an easy choice, and the innovation in FTTH technologies is continuing. I expect the active components to move forward and cost-effectively support even higher data rates. From a use case perspective, I expect fibre to extend beyond FTTH, moving into the enterprise, industry, wireless backhaul, and much more. From the passive side, I expect solutions that continue to help operators bring down operating costs. This is also the case for innovations around cloud-native management of these networks.

Generally speaking, what is the profile of the companies joining the D&O committee?

The members of our committee are interested in the fundamentals of the industry they are working in. Most of them are technical experts in one specific field, and are keen on sharing their knowledge with others, but also learning from others. For the future, I would very much welcome some additional operator members to join the committee, as this part of the value chain is less represented than others. Hearing the point of view of operators would be extremely enriching for the Deployment & Operations committee, as telecom operators are ultimately those running and operating the technology we are making available.

Finally, the ultimate benefit of taking part in the activities of the Deployment & Operations committee is to acquire and share cross-knowledge oh how an FTTH network work and will work in the future, from a wide range of technical experts, or experts-to-be.

More about Michael Timmers

Over his professional career, Michael has been jumping back and forth between the fixed and wireless domains. He obtained a PhD on Machine Learning for Radio before it was the hot thing to do and has researched and introduced several innovative products in the market across these different technologies: Fixed Wireless Access, Wi-Fi, DSL, and Fiber technologies.

Unlocking a greener Europe with energy-efficiency labelling of broadband equipment

Nov 29, 2022

Company type: | Vendor/Reseller (Products) |

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Member company: S&T Isktratel
Country or geographical scope: Global
Period: 2022 and beyond
Company type: Vendor/Reseller
Product/service category involved: All broadband equipment

Abstract

To make environmentally responsible decisions, network operators need credible figures about power consumption of the broadband equipment they procure and use.

The introduction of energy-efficiency labels allows them to make well informed decisions and reduce their carbon footprint. The labels state a product's power consumption and the level of compliance with the Code of Conduct on Energy Consumption of Broadband Equipment as a framework for providing credible and comparable data.

S&T Iskratel believes that the whole broadband industry needs to join the initiative, help operators effectively reduce the environmental impact, and take a positive step towards a greener Europe.

Context

With the explosion of data traffic and the energy consumption of data transmissions increasing, undertaking steps to reduce the carbon footprint is the responsibility of the entire telecoms industry. In their effort to reach net zero emission targets, operators' attention has rightly shifted to utilising solutions that are more energy efficient: switching from copper to fibre [1][2], and selecting PON over P2P [3][4].

To make environmentally responsible decisions, operators need credible and comparable figures about power consumption of the broadband equipment they procure and use. At present, however, they have no tools to compare the products – they can receive data from equipment vendors, but there is nothing to help them compare the power-consumption figures. Even worse, they get exposed to misleading information and greenwashing.

Greater levels of transparency are needed.

The task for the entire telecommunications industry – and equipment vendors in particular – is to provide credible and comparable data about power consumption, and facilitate well-informed decisions that will help operators reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Solutions

The broadband industry already has the framework for credible and comparable power consumption figures in place: The Code of Conduct on Energy Consumption of Broadband Equipment [5] published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

Specifically, the Code of Conduct (CoC) sets the limits of power consumption of broadband equipment, and specifies the test methodology. All (voluntary) signatories commit themselves to achieving the power consumption targets, and to publicly disclosing power consumption of their broadband equipment.

After having signed the Code of Conduct in early 2022, S&T Iskratel has fully committed itself to ensuring that its broadband-access equipment complies with the limits on power consumption imposed by the code, and to providing full disclosure and transparency to customers, users and general public.

For the operators, credible power-consumption figures are the first piece in the puzzle. S&T Iskratel has decided to make a step forward and provide also the “missing piece of the jigsaw” to unlocking a greener Europe and reducing operators’ carbon footprints, and introduce energy-efficiency labels.

In addition to power consumption (which is measured following test methods in the CoC), the labels state the product's level of CoC compliance, provided as a percentage of the limit set by the CoC. Similar in design to those used for energy classes of domestic appliances, the labels are easy to read and understand for operators and end-users alike.

The two labels below provide examples for labels of a compact OLT and of a home gateway.

S&T Iskratel is committed to label all its new broadband equipment; specifically, Iskratel Lumia optical line terminals and Iskratel Innbox customer-premises equipment. The labelling improves credibility and comparability, and allows operators to make well informed decisions when selecting products to put into their network.

S&T Iskratel believes that undertaking the steps to reduce the global warming is the responsibility of the entire telecommunications industry, and that everyone in the value chain – vendors, operators, end users, regulators and authorities – must participate in reducing the carbon footprint of their activities.

S&T Iskratel repeatedly calls on the whole industry to join the initiative and take a positive step towards a greener Europe with industry-wide adoption of energy-efficiency labelling. This will help operators and end users correctly estimate the contribution of electricity generation to their overall carbon footprint, and effectively reduce their negative impact on the environment.

Results

Since spring 2022 when the initiative was first presented, S&T Iskratel received impressively positive feedback from European operators. Their interest has proven that they understand their responsibility in contributing to limiting the global warming, and that they understand the role of their equipment vendors in the supply chain.

Besides lower carbon footprint as a result of deploying lower-consumption equipment, operators benefit from lower electricity costs. As a standout example, an established and rapidly growing full-fibre operator has realised that the investment in switching to S&T Iskratel's OLTs with record-low power consumption returns in 3-5 years, solely thanks to the energy savings. The operator's investment decision was based (also) on credibility of figures on the product's energy-efficiency label.

Conclusions

While operators understand that switching from copper to fibre (and to PON in particular) can reduce their energy consumption and the related carbon footprint by orders of magnitude, they still lack the tools to compare various vendors' products. Widespread, industry-wide adoption of energy-efficiency labelling will address the need, allowing operators to follow their sustainability strategy, avoid the traps of greenwashing and base decisions exclusively on credible and comparable data.

Contact

Tomo Bogataj, Head of Broadband Marketing, S&T Iskratel
t.bogataj@snt-iskratel.si

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Episode 2: the Deployment & Operations Committee

Without revealing too much of your work plan, what can we expect from the D&O committee in 2023?

The D&O committee is responsible for the publication of the FTTH Handbook: how did it become such an important resource for the fibre community?

What are your views regarding the evolution of FTTH technology?

Generally speaking, what is the profile of the companies joining the D&O committee?

More about Michael Timmers

Unlocking a greener Europe with energy-efficiency labelling of broadband equipment

Context

Solutions

Results

Conclusions

Further reading

Contact

More episodes from this series

Face to Face with the Market Intelligence Committee

Latest from the Women in Fibre Committee

Investing in fibre with the Investors Committee

Face-to-face with the In-Home Broadband Excellence Committee

Focus on the Sustainability Committee

Interview with the winner of the Member Engagement Individual Award

Latest from Policy & Regulation Committee

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