Belgian telecommunications operator, Proximus has chosen the Viavi ONMSi optical network monitoring system to test and monitor its growing fibre to the home (FTTH) network at the build-out stage, in order to help maintain reliability.
The provider is in the process of further rolling out and upgrading its fixed broadband infrastructure in Belgium, and has recently secured a €400 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help accelerate deployment of its Gigabit network of the future, bringing fibre to 85 per cent of businesses, cities and communities in Belgium (see Proximus secures €400 million EIB loan for accelerating Gigabit network deployment). As Proximus it does this, the VIAVI ONMSi system is being used to ensure that the network is qualified according to Proximus standards, performs reliably during roll-out, and reduces the mean-time to repair once the network is live.
The monitoring system was chosen to support Proximus in the first phase of FTTH roll-out and installation, and Viavi will also support with the second phase, proactively detecting and locating fibre degradation accurately, and alerting operators with the details of faults from a central office using the OTU-8000 Optical Test Unit combining optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) and optical-switch technology. Guillaume Guevar, director fibre at Proximus explained: ‘Proximus is successfully expanding its FTTH technology into residential areas – we chose Viavi to help us deliver a high-performing network so subscribers can enjoy dependable voice, video and data services, and fast internet access.’
The measurements, recorded in a central database, allow Proximus to assess long-term fibre performance for efficient asset management, and the monitoring system is designed to eliminate the need for portable equipment use by field technicians. Manuel Mato, vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Viavi Solutions said: ‘Viavi is proud to collaborate with Proximus at this exciting time of its FTTH network expansion to improve the quality, speed and bandwidth capacity of its communications network.’
