“Choosing Right Network Architecture Can Make Rural Broadband Deployment Easy & Profitable”

NOFN is a praiseworthy initiative taken by government of India as it will help Indian to grow digitally. This project will empower Gram Panchayats of India with broadband connectivity. This project will ease government to provide e-services to rural areas. It seems very impressive that Gram Panchayats will also be able to leverage various schemes of government which was not possible in lack of internet connectivity. Internet connectivity will fill the big gap between villages and government because after internet connectivity, government can launch e-governance, e-health and e-education etc. DT spoke with Mr. Navin Vohra, Vice President, Service Provider, Asia Pacific, CommScope to know the benefits, challenges and present situation of NOFN project. Read below the excerpts:

DT: How do you see the current infrastructure of Optical Fibre Cable in India? How can it be improved for better connectivity?

Mr. Vohra: Per Analysys and Mason report, OFC penetration is pretty low in India (0.38 OFC per sq.km in India vs. 1.9 per sq. km in China).  Only 18% of approx. 500,000 towers in India are connected thru fiber.

GoI Initiatives such as “Digital India’, where the government aims to convert 100 smart cities across the country will go a long way in improving the fiber infrastructure in the country. The private telecom operators will also need to invest into fiber deeper into their networks to support the rapidly increasing LTE subscriber base and associated data growth

DT: What are your plans to strengthen your stake in the NOFN project? How are you planning to leverage this opportunity for the growth of your company? 

Mr. Vohra: One year after acquisition of TE Connectivity’s BNS business, CommScope is well positioned to offer its solutions for the NOFN project. Further, given our in-depth solutions portfolio, we are well positioned to introduce products in the India market, which will lead to faster rollout. 

DT: Please brief some of the major troubles in the process of deploying Fiber cables in rural areas? How it can be hassle free? 

Mr. Vohra: Rural in the telecom world is really any low density market that is underserved or un-served with regards to true broadband and competitive video services. And choosing the right network architecture can make rural broadband deployment easy and profitable.

A Passive Optical Network (PON) can be deployed by various network operators who want to deliver advanced voice, video and data services to their users / subscribers using fiber. A solid PON helps meet these challenges head on. It allows the central office to feed different niches (farms, residences, etc.) and assign different service profiles to each because everyone needs different levels of bandwidth. PONs are easy to install and reliable. While low density areas are still a challenge; FTTH technologies are different today than even five years ago and can meet the six- to eight-home per-mile challenge.

It’s no secret that rural areas need more bandwidth. The challenge lies in how to serve them. Companies that offer easy-to-install, reliable fiber element options are in a better position to support these challenges.

DT: What are your upcoming solutions? Which are your target verticals? 

Mr. Vohra: CommScope has been dedicated to serving customers in four major areas: indoor and outdoor wireless networks, data center and central offices; connected & efficient buildings; and access and backhaul networks.  One year after acquisition of TE Connectivity’s BNS business, CommScope is well positioned to address bandwidth needs through a convergence of network technology, including outdoor cellular infrastructure, small cells, distributed antenna systems, fibre optic connectivity and data center infrastructure. 

In the FTTH APAC Conference in New Delhi, we have showcased our latest solutions to meet the continuous growth of bandwidth needs: 

• The FACT Optical Distribution Frame enables faster and easier installation in a high density environment and features smart fibre management. 

• Security cameras and Wi-Fi hot spots are becoming increasingly critical for universities, hospitals, hotels and other buildings. However, device access to power and network connectivity can be challenging.  CommScope’s Powered Fiber Cable System, a top promising innovation, simultaneously powers and communicates with small cells, Wi-Fi hotspots, HD cameras and other network access devices, eliminating the need for a local power source.

• Large incumbent service providers have both wireline and wireless operations and are converging onto a single network. Addressing multiple market segments, adding revenue streams and de-risking the business case may be critical elements in network convergence. CommScope will showcase how Passive Course/Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (C/DWDM) enables operators to converge multiple applications onto a single network.

• Outside Plant Closure Solutions, one of CommScope’s top 10 innovations during its 40 year history, hasgel seals which help seal the cable entries of fibre optic closures in a very reliable and craft-insensitive way. It eliminates the use of gas torches, electrical generators or other specific tooling. It can be easily re-opened and re-used to add cables without compromising the connection.

• Optical fibre continues to gain popularity as one of the best broadband mediums for future-proofing against higher and faster capacity requirements by end users.Existence of optical connectivity in multi-dwelling units (MDUs), office buildingsand even single-family units (SFUs) may increase property values while fibre connectivity as part of the building structure has become an expected service for users[i].  CommScope’s hardened connectivity connectors and Rapid Fibre panels simplify installation and reduce time the technician spends to connect a subscriber to the last mile in the network.

DT: What will be your target revenue for this year? How do you plan to achieve this target?

Mr. Vohra: In 2017, we will continue to focus on solving our customers’ challenges in deploying networks faster and more efficiently. Our 40-year history, which was celebrated in 2016, demonstrates our longstanding ability to solve customer problems with innovative solutions.