China Chooses Connectorization: Despite Low Labor Costs, China Standardizes On A "Plug & Play" Connector Architecture
China Chooses Connectorization: Despite Low Labor Costs, China Standardizes On A "Plug & Play" Connector Architecture
China Chooses Connectorization: Despite Low Labor Costs, China Standardizes On A "Plug & Play" Connector Architecture
connectorization standard. After two years of field trials, plus observations of service providers' experiences in
other nations, Zhong said he and his CNC colleagues concluded the connectorization approach is "much more
suitable for the Chinese market." Acknowledging the upfront costs of connectorization may be higher than those
associated with splicing, he said there is "not much difference" in final costs between the two approaches when a
service provider also takes into account the costs of troubleshooting, maintenance and future network upgrades.
Connectorization offers great, long-term benefits for life-time maintenance work and significant OPEX cost savings.
China Opts for Connectorization
• Delivers lowest cost of network ownership = CAPEX + OPEX
• Allows for flexibility to meet future network requirements – Electronics/Technology upgrades
• Delivers faster return on capital
– Connectorized architectures allow faster network construction, positively impacting internal
return on capital metrics.
• Enables carriers to avoid unnecessary capital costs
– New FTTP markets may not have to purchase capital equipment (splice machines) to deploy.
• Aligns expenses to revenue
– Drop placement can be deferred until customer turn up.
In fact, more and more service providers in other nations also are opting for a connectorization solution. As FTTH
equipment volumes increases, vendors such as ADC have significantly improved connector quality, reducing the loss
attributed to a connection to about one-tenth of a dB. In addition, splitters themselves have improved by 0.5 to 1.0
dB in loss budget calculations, and the numbers will continue to get better.
With the improvements in the loss characteristics of both fiber-optic connectors and optical splitters, the operational
cost advantages of connectorization far outweigh the initial cost savings of splicing. These advantages include faster
installation and service turn-up, easier test access, lower training requirements, less specialized equipment and,
overall, a more flexible network.
Adding a connector to the fiber saves technicians a great deal of time, allowing them to test the inputs and install
the splitters more quickly than they can by using splices. For example, a technician can install an ADC splitter in less
than five minutes. In addition to dramatically reducing the time and expense of installing each splitter, the connec-
torization approach provides one more area for segmenting the network during troubleshooting procedures.
• Central office - a key plug-and-play feature within the CO is the multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connector. An indus-
try standard, the MPO connector enables one connection to terminate multiple fibers, as opposed to individual
SC connectors for each individual fiber.
• Outside Plant - In the outside plant, a connectorization strategy reduces initial construction costs, as well as those
associated with turning up new customers. The original distribution method in the FTTH serving area involved
CASE STUDY
splicing drop cables at drop points, during construction. Now hardened connectors and adapters not only save
money in terms of labor costs but also speed up installation of the distribution plant, delivering even greater sav-
ings when deploying FTTH services. ADC terminals are factory pre-terminated with 15 to 607 Meters of outside
plant cable in configurations of 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-, or 12- fibers. Technicians return each terminal tail to a centralized
splicing point, where splicing crews can perform the same number of splices in a far shorter time period.
• Multiple-Dwelling Units (MDUs) - As in the other portions of the FTTH network, the significant advantage to a
connectorized approach is fast installation times. That advantage is particularly evident in bringing fiber into new
MDUs, a building type that is prevalent in such nations as China, Japan and the United States.
An indoor FDH is located on the lower level with, for example, two 144-fiber stubs. With the splicing
approach, fiber distribution terminals (FDTs), residing on each floor of the building, route 12 or 24 fibers
down to the indoor FDH where technicians typically splice them in. Technicians must splice 288 fibers
between the FDH and the FDTs and then run drop cables from the FDTs to the optical network terminals
ONTs--which creates yet another splice, point because it is impossible to predict the exact length of each
drop. By contrast, the connectorization approach has an MPO connector mounted on the stub of each
FDT, and the fiber runs from each FDT to the indoor FDH, which features built-in 12-fiber MPO connectors.
Technicians can easily plug each connection into the FDH from every floor, which means that installing fiber
in an MDU is a simple matter of mounting the enclosures and making plug-and-play connections with the
cables. ADC also has designed on the FDT a built-in fiber spool which holds up to 152 meters of fiber cable.
Technicians can easily spool cable out to the FDH and plug it in, while any extra cable remains on the spool.
A connectorization strategy enables FTTH service providers to save significant time and money that would
otherwise occur with a splicing approach. Those savings are especially evident in the MDU environment,
where splicing 12 fibers typically takes one hour. That’s not even taking into consideration the capital
equipment costs involved with splicing, such as purchasing splice machines, cleaving machines and
stripping equipment.
The goal of any service provider deploying an FTTH network is to balance initial equipment costs with the
operational costs involved in long-term performance of the network. China's MII, along with service providers
around the world, recognize that a connectorized approach throughout the FTTH architecture makes it possible
to deploy the network quickly and reliably, provide bandwidth very cost-effectively and deliver a faster return
on investment.
“As one of the world leaders in FTTH infrastructure solutions, ADC is excited to share our global expertise
and local manufacturing capabilities with our customers in China. It’s our goal to help carriers develop cost
saving, price competitive and future-proof FTTH infrastructure,” said Yang. “China carriers are well aware that
a successful fiber network needs to well-designed at every access point, from the CO to the Premises. This
is where ADC excels, helping carriers build future-proof fiber infrastructure to make their network plans a
reality.”
Case Study
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