In today’s telecom market, trending data highlights the insatiable demand for bandwidth, while economics dictate that service providers stretch their CapEx budgets. Now, more than ever, targeting the opportunities that offer the greatest return on investment is critical. Quite simply, acting on the right priorities can make or break the future of a company.

The challenge for service providers is to blend network architectures and create solutions that work for both the wireline and wireless networks while leveraging new technologies and techniques that help accelerate the cost-effective delivery of broadband services. ADC’s Tom Huegerich knows that consumers want more bandwidth to share their data, photos, and video on social-networking applications like Facebook. They also want high-definition TV (HDTV) and video on demand (VoD), as well as coverage for their iPhone applications. The iPhone alone has led to a tenfold increase in user demand for bandwidth on mobile networks, and with more consumer electronics devices coming on the market, service providers will need to take steps to ensure their networks can keep pace.

In Cisco’s recent edition of its annual Visual Network Index (VNI) forecast, it projected global Internet traffic to increase 4 times over by 2013, driven primarily by video. Improvements in network bandwidth capacity, together with the emergence of high-bandwidth applications like HDTV and 3DTV to fill those pipes, explains the massive growth.

“As this report indicates, the explosion of Internet traffic will create an even greater need for a robust network near the consumer who is using 4G capabilities,” says Huegerich. “This high-performance network, whether in a building or in a rural area, will require the bandwidth capabilities of fiber.”

Huegerich acknowledges that demands are equally important in business markets. “Businesses want to increase efficiency by, for instance, using more videoconferencing and telecommuting,” he explains, “and by taking advantage of the evolving Smart Grid capabilities to monitor and control remotely corporate and residential utilities. In short, customer demand for faster access speeds creates the need for deeper fiber deployment into the network.”

Increasing Bandwidth Demands in Rural Communities
Obviously, the requirement for increasing bandwidth goes beyond the easy-to-reach urban and suburban end user. That’s why ADC is committed to helping service providers bring improved, widespread broadband services to underserved rural communities through its comprehensive product portfolio and support of the Broadband Stimulus Program. “In many ways a broadband network is even more of a lifeline in rural areas than in cities, providing access to goods and services previously unavailable,” observes Huegerich. “The FTTH Council reported recently that most of the 750-plus North American carriers taking fiber to the home are small, independent telcos. ADC supports this evolving market with a comprehensive portfolio of fiber-based solutions accepted by the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS). These solutions enable service providers seeking funding from the RUS to propose the use of these products in applications they submit for the agency’s loans and grants.”

ADC’s OmniReach Hub-in-a-Pedestal (HIP) is a fiber distribution hub (FDH) designed specifically for deploying fiber in rural communities consisting of 12 to 96 homes.

For example, ADC’s OmniReach® Hub-in-a-Pedestal (HIP) is a fiber distribution hub (FDH) designed for deploying fiber in rural communities consisting of 12 to 96 homes. Right-sized for rural landscapes, this field-friendly unit is enclosed in a pedestal, rather than in a metal cabinet, and can be placed in the ground without pouring a concrete pad or installing a hand hole. This feature speeds deployment of fiber-to-the-home and reduces overall project costs.

Connectorized architectures from the central office to the subscriber premises, including MDUs, enable cost-effective, easy-to-manage, reliable fiber networks.

MDU Market Requires Fiber-Based Networks
The same requirements for increasing bandwidth translate to the multi-dwelling unit (MDU) market as well. But, when it comes to serving the nearly one-third of U.S. residents living in MDUs, Huegerich says: “The complexities of MDU applications make the installation of high-performance, high-reliability fiber networks a challenge. Moreover, tenants and owners require minimal disruption, which drives the need for quick and easy installations.”

He explains that MDU-friendly fiber systems, based on pre-connectorized cable and with integrated cable storage and bend-insensitive fiber, are well-suited for plug-and-play architectures in the MDU arena. “A 12-fiber, multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connector, for example, eliminates the time and cost of 12 individual splices,” he continues. “Reduced bend radius (RBR) fiber performs well despite the twists and bends of the typical MDU. By utilizing the capabilities of the RBR fiber, new, more rugged cables for in-building use have been introduced. When combined with improved MPO connectors, with lower optical loss and improved mechanical performance, installation is easier, quicker, and less expensive -- with no sacrifice of optical performance. For installers and operators, a plug-and-play approach makes the lucrative MDU market far more accessible,” notes Huegerich.

In their initial fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) deployments, service providers in the United States focused on delivering services to single-family homes and large residential multi-dwelling units (MDUs). Now, as they turn their attention to smaller MDUs, multi-tenant units (MTUs), and rural applications, they are discovering that traditional fiber-installation equipment is not always well-suited for these environments. “If they are to build reliable FTTP networks quickly and cost-effectively in small MDUs/MTUs and rural areas,” says Huegerich, “service providers need products that are right-sized for these deployment scenarios and have the flexibility, accessibility, and scalability necessary to ensure long-term reliability, easy maintenance, and fast service turn-ups.”

Although various building types fall into the MDU/MTU category, the smaller ones typically include: medium rise, with fewer than 100 living units on multiple floors; garden style, with single living units on each floor; and horizontals, in which each unit resembles a single family unit. Some of these buildings not only provide residences but also house hospitals, hotels, dormitories, and other businesses with multiple telecommunications service requirements. Minimizing disruption to these various tenants demands fiber-installation products that readily adapt to the range of sizes, densities, and physical layouts of these structures.

Reaching Rural Developments
Huegerich points out that residential single-family units in new housing developments and existing rural neighborhoods also require right-sized installation equipment. Although some new applications require traditional 144-, 288-, or 432-fiber densities, many developers today prefer to reduce costs by phasing in deployment of the FTTP network. For example, they may begin with an initial 100 homes and roll out subsequent phases over time. As a result, service providers need products that scale from smaller to larger fiber densities as the network is phased in.

“ADC has responded to these requirements by designing a product portfolio that enables service providers to build faster, more efficient FTTP network architectures,” says Huegerich. “These products are effectively configured into units right-sized for smaller and phased-in deployments but with the same features available with traditional equipment: easy-access swing frame, plug-and-play splitter architecture, splitter output parking lot, and fiber-management capabilities.”

New technologies in fiber, equipment, and plug-and-play solutions are enabling many service providers today to stay competitive in an ever-changing environment. By investing in these advanced technologies, they are delivering the high-speed, fiber-based broadband access their customers demand.

Although impressive progress is being made, Huegerich admits that challenges still exit. He argues that operators and vendors must work together to develop and deploy near-term and long-term technological approaches that can yield significant cost savings. He summarizes his view on turning priorities into deliverables by saying, “A more holistic approach is needed to tackle long-term issues and propose long-term solutions. While many professionals may be concerned about disclosing intellectual property, still they seek out groups to discuss critical industry issues. For example, the Center for Integrated Photonic Systems (www.cips.mit.edu), sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a safe haven where industry groups routinely convene to discuss industry trends. Participants sign a non-disclosure-type agreement and then brainstorm candidly about issues in technology and what it will take to resolve them. These kinds of approaches, along with a greater emphasis on industry partnerships, will help us move beyond short-term thinking and intense competition, so we can grow the industry overall and enhance its image.”

As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Indeed, it’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ADC’s Huegerich believes that in today’s competitive marketplace, service providers must take quick action based on the right priorities if they want to attract and keep their customers for the long-term.

Tom Huegerich, a 25-year veteran of the fiber industry, currently serves as Vice President of Global Fiber Engineering for ADC’s Global Connectivity Solutions Business Unit. In this role, Huegerich and his team are focused on new and emerging applications of optical fiber for new markets, customers, and related technologies.

Huegerich joined ADC in May 2004 with its acquisition of The KRONE Group. Since then he has had overall profit responsibility for ADC’s fiber connectivity product lines. He also served as a Director of Product Management and as General Manager of ADC’s optical cable business.

Prior to ADC KRONE, Huegerich held a number of management positions with Corning Cable Systems during his 16-year tenure with that company. These included positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, sales, product management, and marketing. He also has extensive international expertise having lived and worked in Europe.

Huegerich holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. After serving in the United States Navy for 10 years in the nuclear submarine community, completing command qualification and nuclear engineering certification, he retired as a captain in the US Navy Reserves.

Huegerich has served on a number of standards committees, and has been a frequent speaker at industry forum and conferences.

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