Questions on improving fibre roll outs in rural Ireland

wicklow_hills

1) a local exchange network has cabinets (which may or may not be upgraded by Eircom), but it also has 'aerial cabinets,' sometimes there are twice as many of these up on the poles as there are regular ground based green cabs.

these aerial cabinets are generally at located at key nodes, road junctions, etc

Q: is it possible to have 'FTT-aerial cabinet' to allow wider and further expansion of the Eircom FTTC (e-fibre) programme ?

2) I understand that Eircom are testing x3 exchanges where they put e-fibre cabinets at (or inside) the local exchange (one is in Skerries, I forget the other two locations, but they are urban/sub-urban)

Q: is this a good idea for rural exchanges?
why did the UK not do this?
seems like a no-brainer, but if so, why leave it until last in Ireland?

bk

wicklow_hills wrote: »

1) a local exchange network has cabinets (which may or may not be upgraded by Eircom), but it also has 'aerial cabinets,' sometimes there are twice as many of these up on the poles as there are regular ground based green cabs.

these aerial cabinets are generally at located at key nodes, road junctions, etc

Q: is it possible to have 'FTT-aerial cabinet' to allow wider and further expansion of the Eircom FTTC (e-fibre) programme ?

Yes, technology exists to do this. It is called Fibre To The Remote Node (FTTRN), BT have been trialling it in the UK:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/03/north-yorkshire-moot-bt-trial-fibre-remote-node-broadband-tech.html

It is also similar to FTTDp (Distribution Point).

That isn't to say that Eircom will use these, they will likely be more expensive then FTTC and no signs yet of Eircom using them.

wicklow_hills wrote: »

2) I understand that Eircom are testing x3 exchanges where they put e-fibre cabinets at (or inside) the local exchange (one is in Skerries, I forget the other two locations, but they are urban/sub-urban)

Q: is this a good idea for rural exchanges?
why did the UK not do this?
seems like a no-brainer, but if so, why leave it until last in Ireland?

My understanding is that they aren't actually putting cabs in the exchanges (CVDSL), instead they are using Exchange launched VDSL (EVDSL).

In other words they will be putting line cards, etc. in the Eircom exchanges.

It has been on trial in the following locations: Dooradoyle Co.
Limerick, Monaghan Town; Skerries Co. Dublin and Westport Co. Mayo

As for why leave it to last in Ireland. Because it is a lot more complicated then FTTC. Currently we have:

This Plan permits use of frequencies up to 2.208 MHz for exchange-launched services and of frequencies up to 17.664 MHz for cabinet-launched service and customer premises equipment (CPE). Frequencies above 17.664 MHz are reserved for further study and not allowed with this version of the Plan.

In order to do EVDSL, Eircom will likely have to change the frequencies allowed from Exchange launched services to also be increased to 17.664 MHz. But then doing this can potentially effect standard ADSL in the exchange and other operators services and plans for services. So it has to be approached much more slowly and carefully.

If Eircom can implement it without too much impact on other services, then yes, it would be great for rural Ireland and anyone on direct exchange feed lines less then 2kms (remember this sometimes happens in Urban areas too, so these people also benefit, not just rural Ireland).

Obviously it isn't a solution for everyone in rural Ireland (those more then 2km from the exchange), but every little bit helps and I believe this will enable another 300,000 premises or so to be brought onto the VDSL network.

In combination with other technologies like FTTRn, FTTDp, VDSL reach extenders and Eircom restructuring the cable network (routing cables to closer cabs) I think we should be able to get many if not most in rural Ireland onto a decent broadband speeds.

clohamon

A public consultation on the DCENR NBP map is due in November and rural consumers might then be in a position to see what is planned. At a minimum, private planned deployments ought to pinpoint the exact location of the node, where the fibre is in relation to the node, the technology being deployed and the roll-out schedule. i doubt we'll get any of that detail.