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Rolling out fibre technology to more remote parts of the country is set to be a major focus for deployers over the coming years, as the industry works to extend the reach of superfast connectivity and meet a government target of delivering full fibre to the entire UK by 2033.
Traditionally, rural developments have been viewed as a lower priority than more urban areas, with one of the reasons for this being that they are often less commercially viable. Indeed, given the costly and time-consuming task of installing many miles of fibre cabling to serve what may only be a limited number of premises, firms may be reluctant to invest unless they have guarantees for future returns.
However, this does not have to be the case. Indeed, one technique for installing dark fibre set out by networking specialist CommScope could help make these efforts much cheaper without compromising on the quality of connections.
Known as 'Distributed Tap', the practice has already been in use for several years, but as rural fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments become more commonplace, it is likely to be of much greater interest in the near future.
CommScope network architect Fredric Amt explained that to reach 32 homes, a standard FTTH strategy would require deployers to install 32 separate fibre cables splitting from a centralised location.
However, with Distributed Tap, just one cable would be needed to reach all 32 properties. This makes it much more cost-effective, with CommScope estimating firms could save up to 50 per cent on their cable expenses compared with standard solutions.
The technology is particularly useful for rural areas as it can be deployed easily in very low density locations. Mr Amt noted deployments as low as six homes per square mile can be built using this solution, whereas conventional centralised and distributed split FTTH architectures in these areas would require far too much fibre for the projects to be economically justifiable.
What's more, the technology is easily scalable, allowing installers to add dark fibre to plan for future expansions much more affordably.
Mr Amt said: "Take a centralised split service area of 96 homes: in the distribution plant, there will be 96 fibres to connect the homes and another 24 dark fibres for future use. With the Tap design, it would retain the 24 dark fibres for future use and require only three fibres more to connect the 96 homes."
He also noted that the technology does not have to be reserved exclusively for rural areas. Mr Amt said that Distributed Tap can also prove useful in suburban deployments of up to 120 homes per square mile and, as the technology has advanced over the years, installers can take advantage of features such as hardened connectivity to ensure no dropouts in coverage.
"These improvements also benefit speed to deployment and reduced labour skill requirements," Mr Amt continued. "There will always be savings because of fibre count reductions by using the Tap, and there are often cable footage savings."
