FTTX rollouts and 'last-mile' solutions
Across the world one can see the ever increasing FTTX (Fiber) rollouts. These capital intensive rollouts are largely driven by the anticipated bandwidth needs of the next generation TV, network hosted applications and the networked home appliances & devices.
The CSPs have been so focussed on the rollout of these new fiber access networks that little time has been spent on planning for the 'last-mile' solutions / services that would be required to support the new fiber based offerings.
Some of the key challenges faced by the CSPs in these rollouts has been the following
- Upgradation of systems and technology is unable to keep pace with the pace of rollouts leading to failure of 'flow-thru' provisioning and thereby leading to a lot of manual intervention
- In-plant and outside-plant inventory inaccuracy issues leading to delays in turning on the service on the field
- Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) needs to be replaced or upgraded for the new services to be turned on
- Re-skilling or up-skilling of the field technicians to handle install or repair of new fiber-based services
The CSPs need to really think of the so called 'last-mile' solutions which can help address the above mentioned challenges. A few of the potential 'last-mile' solutions are as follows:-
- Setup teams focussed on "Order Fallout" Management to reduce the service activation delays
- 'Routing Solutions' assistance for field technicians to overcome plant inventory data inaccuracy
- Returns or Reverse Logistics Management Solutions to take care of CPE upgrade / replacement
- Effective Knowledge Management techniques to ensure rapid up-skilling of the field-force
The demand for the illustrated 'last-mile' solutions will grow in the coming months and years as the fibre rollouts gather further steam. It would be a good idea for the CSPs to start thinking on these lines soon...
