In a previous blog I spoke of the importance of getting people connected to higher bandwidth networks to create both personal and economic opportunities for communities across the country. It’s thrilling to scan the internet telecom news and broadband blogs to read of literally hundreds of fiber network projects in the US that are at different stages of being approved and implemented.
The “I Want My MTV” generation is leading the charge and changing our slogan to “I Want My Gigabit!” Digital information drives our daily lives in both the personal and business side and everyone needs to be connected.
The Value of Greenfield Projects
Greenfield fiber projects for broadband or telecom services can be defined as:
“A project to build a fiber network in an area where none previously existed, and to conceivably offer services that had not previously been offered.”
Many of these new fiber network projects are happening away from the larger cities and metro areas where not much telecom infrastructure has been deployed. Importantly, these greenfield fiber deployments promise fiscal opportunity in areas that were once viewed as “remote” and “out of the way” in comparison to larger populated areas. And for that reason, these projects offer positive economic diversity to the US telecom landscape overall.
The greenfield projects are also beneficial because they are not subject to the constraints of pre-existing networks, and this allows for technology paradigms to evolve and improve into more efficient communications systems.
The Greenfield Life Cycle
I recently spoke on a panel at the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin about ETI’s software’s modular phase-based model, and it seemed to resonate with those in the midst of a greenfield deployment. To elaborate a bit: a project of this magnitude can be broken down into 3 phases of deployment and each stage has different requirements. And this means solutions need to be able to create the new paradigm of building a communications network for their community.
Phase 1: Network Design and Management Software (Fiber Management Software)
Your greenfield fiber project has been approved and you’re ready to start. You’ll need software that allows you to hand over a plan to your network construction team:
- Design Your Network
- Inventory Your Network
- Manage Network Addresses
- Estimate Network Costs
Phase 2: Activate and Invoice (OSS/BSS Solution)
Once your network is built and ready for use you need to add subscribers to it and start to pay back what you’ve spent in network costs and construction. You’ll need software that allows you to:
- Manage Subscribers
- Provision Subscriber Services
- Manage a Work Force, Service Calls and Trouble Tickets
- Track Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)
- Create an invoice or monthly bill
Phase 3: Monitoring and Management Software (GIS Solution)
Now that you are building your subscriber base you need an efficient solution in place to track all data within your footprint. This will allow you automate tasks and build processes to streamline all departmental endeavors and achieve your goals by using your data intelligently.
Let’s face facts…we have outgrown spreadsheets as a way to effectively analyze our telecom footprint. GIS software allows us a bird’s eye view of all operations in a service area. You’ll need GIS software to:
- Track daily work and service orders
- Track service vehicles
- Track network alarms or potential service issues
- Track subscriber sales and consumption patterns
- Build target marketing campaigns by location
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