CLC/TR 50510:2012

The abbreviation FTTx refers to grids using fibres in the terminal area, meaning beyond the last exchange Central Office. “x” thereby denotes different penetration levels, for instance: FTTC = Fibre to the Curb, meaning to the street (to the last cabinet); FTTB = Fibre to the Building, meaning to the building, normally into the basement; FTTH = Fibre to the Home, meaning into the residential area. Most FTTx networks are designed without any active equipment in the external network and are therefore classified as passive optical networks. The only active equipment is at the central office and the customer premises. FTTH - PON networks can be designed around different architectures. The purpose of this Technical Report is to be a first guideline for those considering to install a high bandwidth (high bit-rate) FTTx-network. After studying the Technical Report operators, communities, energy companies, installers and others will understand the necessary steps to take to plan and install FTTx networks with high quality and cost effectiveness, and to secure a uniform structure and a high quality level on such networks. The main part of this Technical Report describes the FTTx-networks, but Clause 2 also contains more general information to give an understanding as to how these networks fit into the planning of other network infrastructures. FTTx has for many years been regarded as the most future-proof technique for transmission of broadband multi-media applications. The building of FTTx-networks has previously been prevented by high costs. New investigations show, however, that the cost to install a new fibre based network (100 Mbit/s) is a little less than to install a new copper network. The FTTx-network is also the only structure, which with certainty can offer both the present and the future needs, which broadband access services require. At the same time the technique allows efficient operating maintenance and cost savings. The networks to be presented are usually called FTTx, but with the strategy described here fibre networks can reach any point in the network. The end-user can be separate homes, houses, office environments, optoelectrical transitions in equipment for alarms, surveillance, monitoring devices etc. The Technical Report also describes recommendations and gives basic requirements to be fulfilled by an optical fibre installation in an FTTx-network to satisfy present and future requirements on capacity, transmission distance and network quality. As a target, the minimum capacity is set to 1 Gbit/s (1 000 Mbit/s) up to 10 km distance. Relevant types of single-mode optical fibres are specified in EN 60793 2 50. However, in the industry single-mode optical fibre is typically described by the relevant ITU-T recommendations. The physical network should have an expected lifetime of at least 25 years. The recommendations are written for a general audience, but in particular for people involved in private and public enterprises, people responsible for broadband decisions, planning, training and installations.