3M Extending the Life of Your Copper Network

Extending the Life of Your Copper Network Through Physical Layer SolutionsBy Rob Mertz, Marketing Manager, 3M Communication Markets Division

Business White Paper

2 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Next Generation Network (NGN): Vision versus Today’s Realities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An Evolution of the Embedded Copper Network . . . .

Expansion and Rehabilitation Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . .

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

The increasing popularity of enhanced services presents

an exciting opportunity and a considerable challenge

for telecommunications services providers. Customer

demand, stiff competition from cable operators, and the

decline of voice revenues have made enhanced services

offerings mandatory. But when it comes time to add the

capacity needed to deploy broadband services, many

telcos have discovered that the costs can be staggering.

This white paper presents an innovative and field-tested

approach developed by 3M as an alternative to the costly

and time consuming practice of hot-swapping existing

cabinets and contents for all new components to deploy

enhanced services. The method, involving cabinet

expansions and rehabilitation, extends the value of legacy

investments and helps to significantly reduce the time

and money needed to bring enhanced customer services

to market.

Introduction

4 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom4 3M Communication Markets Division

During the early 2000s, fiber was considered one of the

the primary mechanisms for broadband access, and that

fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network architecture was the

means of delivering the increased bandwidth needed

for enhanced services. Advocates of NGN and FTTH

envisioned building an entirely new communications

infrastructure -- installing fiber in new developments

and elsewhere, replacing the existing copper

infrastructure upon which the telecommunications

industry was established.

Experts believed that creating an all-fiber infrastructure

would serve to link the country in the same way that

copper wires and phone linked previous generations

of Americans from coast to coast. But demand and

economic realities have intervened in ways that could

not have been imagined a decade ago.

“Last Mile” fiber infrastructure build is a

costly proposition for even the world’s largest

telecommunications services providers. Running fiber

through a typical American neighborhood can run

between $500 and $700 per home – and sometimes

higher than that, according to numerous industry

reports. In addition, telcos incur more costs to install

and connect each subscriber to an FTTH network

plus central office upgrades and other fiber-based

improvements. (In Europe, the cost to deploy FTTH is

nearly double the US figures, according to studies by

Analysys Mason and AT Kearney.)

But homes “passed” doesn’t necessarily equate to “take

up” rate. Unlike the era in which the copper network

was built, today’s customers have many communications

options. Running fiber can be a highly speculative

prospect, especially given the ferocious competitive

climate within the industry.

Companies that decided to invest in creating a fiber

network have quickly discovered that the material

and labor expenses can rack up quickly, particularly

in established neighborhoods. Hot-swapping existing

cabinets is an expensive, time intensive, and potentially

perilous process for telcos. A significant investment

in time and money – beyond that already anticipated

for fiber runs and hot-swaps – is required to resolve

permitting, community restrictions, and right-of-way

issues before any work can even begin.

Importantly, the overall return on a hefty investment in

FTTH can be suppressed due to its speculative nature.

Depending on the short-term take up rate, the teleco’s

return on investment may quite possibly be pushed out

far into the future.

Next Generation Network (NGN): Vision versus Today’s Realities

5 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

Telcos face an ongoing struggle to keep up with an

ever-growing need for capacity. Once defined simply

as Internet access, enhanced services as a category has

exploded. The market for enhanced services is in its

infancy in terms of adoption and development. It’s a

marketplace limited only by our collective imagination.

Social networking, cloud computing, high-speed file

transfers, and streaming audio and video have changed

the way bandwidth is used. Customers are increasingly

demanding the same speeds and quality as they might

experience in the workplace.

With current and potential customers clamoring for

enhanced services, planning for an all-fiber future and

delaying deployment can be disastrous to a company’s

immediate and short-term goals as well as its long-

term prospects. Today’s customers are not accustomed

to delays. Telcos who leave customers waiting are

vulnerable to competitive poaching, putting revenue

generation and infrastructure investments at an even

higher risk. Managing cost and delivery of an evolving

set of new services is a critical challenge.

The ability of telcos to deploy services quickly has become

both a business imperative and a key survival strategy.

Speed is therefore crucial. To help ensure a strong return

on investment, deployment cost must be minimized and

the revenue stream must be established quickly.

Unlike 20th century customers who had no other option

but to wait until phone lines were installed from a single

company, today’s customers have many choices. The

time lag between infrastructure and subscriber order

must be minimal.

To reduce costs and increase speed to market, more

and more companies are choosing an innovative yet

commonsense approach to meeting consumer demand:

expanding and rehabbing existing cross-connect

cabinets. The concept of broadband over copper may

seem counter-intuitive, given the initial vision for FTTH

and the resulting views of the value of the embedded

copper network in today’s high-speed world. For a

growing number of telcos, however, leveraging the

existing copper network is an ideal technological and

economic solution.

Why copper? Because it’s already there.

NGN Challenge: Address Market-Driven Business Considerations

6 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

An Evolution of the Embedded Copper Network

Broadband Over Copper Network: Key Advantages•Reducedcapitalexpense•Loweroperatingexpense•Quickerdeployment•Fasterspeed-to-market•Fasterrevenuestream

establishment•Increasedrevenue•Increasedreturnoninvestment•Quickerrecaptureof

deployment costs•Competitiveadvantage

Replacing the existing network entirely

with fiber has become so costly and time-

consuming that many telecommunications

services providers have begun to pursue

alternatives to fiber, including copper and

a hybrid architecture: fiber-to-the-node

(FTTN). This approach enables operators

to use copper-based “last mile” links

and xDSL technology. Because of the

industry’s recent fixation on fiber, many

companies do not realize that advances in

copper technology and related software

have been, and continue to be, vigorously

pursued.

An international consortium led by ECI

Telecom was formed in 2007 to develop

technology that would boost DSL speeds

using Dynamic Spectrum Management

as a future evolution of broadband

access networks using existing copper

infrastructure. Experts such as Stanford

University professor John Cioffi, a DSM

research pioneers has argued that copper

has more available bandwidth than

fiber, but its capacity isn’t being utilized

properly.

In 2004, Cioffi and others at Stanford,

joined by Mung Chiang at Princeton,

Alexander Fraser at Fraser Research Lab,

and industry partners, began FAST Copper,

a multi-year project funded by the U.S.

National Science Foundation. The goal

of the project is to substantially improve

the rate, reach, reliability, and quality in

copper-based “last mile” broadband access

to everyone with a phone line. The team

realized that ubiquitous access to everyone

across America is a formidable task, given

technical and socio-economic challenges,

and proposes leveraging the “installed

copper plant.” The team’s overall solution

is a hybrid fiber/DSL deployment “where

fiber is pushed into the access network but

copper takes over the last mile, thereby

utilizing the best of ubiquity, broadband,

reliability, and economic viability.”

Advances have enabled copper to deliver

at previously unimaginable speeds.

According to a company news release

in 2010, Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs

successfully demonstrated a technology

that boosts the transmission speeds

achievable over just two digital subscriber

lines, delivering 300 Megabits per second.

“At these speeds, service providers will be

able to maximize the ability of the existing

copper infrastructure – widely deployed

around the world – to satisfy demand for

bandwidth-intense residential triple-play

and business services, for years to come,”

the release announced. Copper speeds will

likely continue to increase.

7 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

Pushing the last mile through copper elevates the

importance and value of the existing cross-connect block

and cabinet. Substantial time and significant cost savings

are derived from expanding and retrofitting cabinets,

rather than completing expensive cutovers that involve

removing everything from the pad, positioning a new

box with new blocks and other components, and splicing

and jumpering of the new blocks. The cross-connect is

the crucial element in leveraging the copper network to

deliver enhanced services.

The vast majority of cross-connect cabinets in the field

are good candidates for cost-saving rehab and expansion.

Some already have enough pair count to support the

DSL application. About a third of the cabinets must

be expanded, according to Matt Gillette, executive

vice president of Pearce Services, Inc. (PSI). PSI is a

Contractor that specializes in the repair, replacement,

expansion, relocation, and servicing of telephone cross-

connect cabinets. Since 2007, the company has completed

about 3,000 rehab and expansion projects a year and

estimates rehabbing and expansion, rather than hot-

swapping, saved at least one PSI customer, a major telco,

$9 million per year for the past four years.

Every expansion and rehab project presents unique

challenges that require a tailored solution. But in basic

terms, rehabbing leaves the existing block in place, adds

an expansion block where needed, and increases pair

count to support the broadband offering. The cabinet’s

internal compartment capacity is often increased by

using components that reduce space requirements by up

to 50 percent.

Expansion and rehab is about half the cost of a full

cut-over. The solution accelerates time to market and

requires far fewer labor hours to accomplish. Because the

expanded and retrofitted cabinet sits within essentially

the same footprint, right-of-way and permitting issues

are virtually eliminated. Overall, the solution provides a

competitive advantage because customers do not have to

wait as long as they would for an all-fiber solution. Using

the existing copper network also permits the solution to

be quickly and efficiently deployed to a larger number of

customers.

Expansions are accomplished within the original

footprint by adding an extension that increases

the cabinet’s height or width and interior space.

Accomplishing the expansion usually requires little to

no splicing or jumpering. Given that some cabinets

in the field date back 30 or more years, expansion and

rehab might not be feasible in all situations. Designing

and engineering the right solution for each site takes

experience and an understanding of technical and

business challenges.

Successful DSL deployment over copper at the cross-

connect cabinet is dependent upon many factors. These

include:

• DistancefromtheDSLAM;half-tapsplices,embeddedcable conditions, and other electronics on line

• Qualityofpremisework

• Requiredpaircountversusexistingpaircount;projectedgrowth in pair count to support broadband offering

• A site evaluation to include condition of cable, existing count, general existing capability and environment

• An examination of the existing infrastructure to support the cabinet, including pads and other supporting structures

• Localcodes:permitsandotherregulatorysteps

• Evaluation of current infrastructure’s ability to support existing services and an examination of service records

• Locationevaluation,whichmayrevealparticularneedsasto cabinet size or aesthetic considerations

• Understanding of the business case: how many homes aretobepassedandwhatistheplannedtake-uprate?

• Laborevaluation:willcontractorsorcompanypersonnelbeusedforcabinetplacement,splicingandjumpering?

• Identification of rehab or expansion solution for the specific location – by the block, by the frame, or by the cabinet

Application Considerations for DSL Deployment

8 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

CabinetexpansionforremoteDSLAMinjection

The overriding goal in selecting an expansion and rehab cabinet is to ensure the integrity of the original cabinet and/or

base and copper components. The cabinets must open from the front fully, slide into place, and should include discreet

port or bread pan cabling solutions. Optional expansion/RHB blocks and frames enable the installation to be conducted

block-at-a-time or frame-at-a-time.

Pad mount conversion cabinets and kits are designed to increase pair count. The cabinets can be expanded in either

height or width, and may be expanded from single sided to double sided cabinets. Selecting expansion and rehab

products that are designed to upgrade cross-connect pair count in a manufacturer’s cabinet is crucial. This is a best

practice that helps to provide cost-effectiveness as well as installation efficiencies.

9 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

900-pairexpansionframe/blocksontopand side of cabinet

Retainedtheexisting1800-pairframe/blocks with no interruption of service

Existing frame mounted in a new cabinet

PadMountExpansionCabinet–Existing1800-paircabinetwitha900-pairexpansion

Expansion and Rehabilitation Gallery

1800-pairexpansionframe/blocks;900-pairperside

Retainedtheexisting3600-pairframe/blocks with no interruption of service

Existing frame mounted in a new cabinet

Utilizes the existing pad

PadMountExpansionCabinet–Existing3600-pair,double-sidedcabinetwithan1800-pairexpansion

10 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

900-pairfutureexpansionframeonsideof cabinet

Maintaintheswingoutframes/jumpersandaccess to splice chamber

Retainedexisting1200-pairframe/blockswith no interruption of service

Utilizes the existing pad

PadMountExpansionCabinet–Existing900-paircabinetwitha900-pairexpansion

900-pairexpansionframe/blocksontopand side of cabinet

Maintaintheswingoutframes/jumpersandaccess to splice chamber

Retainedexisting1200-pairframe/blockswith no interruption of service

PadMountExpansionCabinet–Existing1200-paircabinetwitha900-pairfutureexpansion

400-pairexpansionframe/blocks

Retainedtheexisting900-pairframe/blockswith no interruption of service

Expansion kit added to existing cabinet, maintaining features of the existing cabinet

PadMountExpansionCabinet–Existing900-paircabinetwitha400-pairexpansion

11 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

Retainedtheexisting600-pairframe/blockswith no interruption of service

300-pairexpansionblocksaddedtothetop&bottom of cabinet

Existing frame mounted in a new cabinet

Retainedtheexisting600-pairframe/blockswith no interruption of service

750-pairexpansionframe&blocksaddedtothe side of cabinet

Existing frame mounted in a new cabinet

PoleMountExpansionCabinet–Existing600-paircabinetwitha750-pairexpansion

PoleMountExpansionCabinet–ExistingFullyoperationalXPcabinetwith1200-pairexpansion

12 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

FullyoperationalXPcabinetwith1200pairexpansion FinishedProduct

13 3M Communication Markets Division www.3M.com/Telecom

SummaryExpansion cross-connect solutions enable network operators to focus broadband investment toward

services that help increase revenue in one of the fastest and least expensive ways. Key benefits of

expansion and rehabilitation of cross-connect cabinets to leverage the copper network include:

• Substantially reduced labor, material, and other related costs typically associated with cutovers

• Fastertimetomarketandreducedwaitforcustomers,whichprovidesacompetitiveadvantageinthemarketplace

• Virtuallyeliminatesoftencostlyandtimeconsumingright-of-wayandpermittingissues

• Improves and accelerates return on investment prospects

• Helps to deliver enhanced services to more people in more places

Accelerate broadband network deployment and improve speed-to-market by empowering your existing

copper infrastructure to quickly and cost-effectively deliver broadband services customers demand.

References1. “FAST Copper for Broadband Access” by Mung Chiang, Jianwei Huang, Dahai Xu, Yung

Yi, Chee Wei Tan, Raphael Cendrillon, Electrical Engineering Department, Princeton University, Marvell Semiconductors. 2005-2006 overview paper.

2. “Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs achieves industry first: 300 Megabits per second over just two traditional DSL lines.” News release issued by the Alcatel-Lucent Press Office, Paris, April 2010.

3. “The Costs of Deploying Fibre-Based Next-Generation Broadband Infrastructure.” Study conducted by Analysys Mason, commissioned by the Broadband Stakeholder Group. September 2008.

4. Study for the Hellenic Ministry of Transport and Communications, AT Kearney. May 2008.

5. “Broadband 2.0: How Technology and Economics Make Copper Ideal for the Next Wve of Advanced Services,” Ikanos Communications. 2010.

6. “Want broadband access? Save copper infrastructure” by Heather Burnett Gold, senior vice president of external affairs for XO Communications. The Hill, July 26, 2010

7. “BSG publishes costs of deploying fibre based superfast broadband.” News release issued by Broadband Stakeholder Group, September 8, 2008.

8. “Cable vs. Fiber” by Catherine Yang, Tom Lowry, Roger O. Crockett, Peter Burrows, and bureau reports. Bloomberg Businessweek, November 1, 2004.

9. “‘Last mile’ broadband access key to small-business growth” by Carl J. Grivner. The Hill, January 25, 2010.

10. “Copper wire as fast as fiber?” by Nate Anderson. Arstechnica.com, October 2006.

11. “Fiber-optic speeds achieved over copper lines” by technology/telecom staff reporters. Physorg.com, April 28, 2010.

3M is a trademark of 3M Company.

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Communication Markets Division6801 River Place Blvd.Austin,TX78726-9000800/426 8688Fax800/6260329www.3M.com/Telecom

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