With the incredible growth of the broadband communications market — in particular, voice and multimedia services — service providers, which have done their best to keep pace with subscriber demands, are finding their existing fiber networks are reaching their limits. The increase in the business Ethernet market and uptake of bandwidth-intensive services and applications in both business and consumer segments has created a situation where network operators have to reassess their network capabilities in order to continue to service existing subscribers, let alone bring on new ones.

 

The key, however, is to increase the capacity and efficiency of existing infrastructures — specifically to meet the demand for video services, which chew up bandwidth at an unheard of pace — without service disruption, while combining often disparate network assets that have accumulated either through a combination of organic growth and technological advancement, or by acquisition. 

 

Belgian cable operator VOO faced that very dilemma. In order to accommodate growth and to create a more efficient network infrastructure to accommodate future expansion, it sought a solution that would allow it to standardize its disparate networks on 1- and 10Gb Ethernet platforms, allowing it to effectively provide VoIP and Video on Demand (VoD) services to its more than 1.2 million business and residential customers. 

 

In order to interconnect its distribution networks, and centralize its transport platforms, VOO called upon systems integrator Arcadiz Telecom to deploy a network solution based on an Optical+Ethernet platform from ADVA Optical Networking. The Optical+Ethernet solution ­— based on highly scalable Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology — effectively transforms VOO’s existing network infrastructure in to a packet-oriented optical network, increasing capacity, enabling higher transfer rates, and extending the potential reach of the network. Essentially, it creates a network capable of delivering high-bandwidth services, like VoIP and video, without straining the network.

 

ADVA’s (News - Alert) FSP 3000 multi-haul platform, the basis of a 10Gb/s optical backbone, provides not only increased capability for VOO’s current footprint, but allows for easy expansion as needed. In addition, the platform is capable of supporting several 1Gb metro access rings feeding into its backhaul network. Furthermore, to support sub-Gb connections for service delivery to VOO’s enterprise and carrier customers, ADVA’s FSP 150 provides a demarcation point designed to enable service delivery over existing network infrastructures — eliminating a traditional shortcoming of Ethernet, which was developed for local area networking.

 

The entire new networking solution is managed by ADVA’s FSP Network Manager, which provides management capabilities across all network elements — optical as well as Ethernet — and provides secure and flexible access through any network node, and simplified provisioning, monitoring, and reporting across all network resources.

 

“VOO, with its strong footprint in a very competitive broadband environment characterized by high cable penetration, has put in place an optimal converged next-generation network that will certainly prove to be key in delivering innovative services,” said Yann Evain, sales director Benelux for ADVA Optical Networking (News - Alert).

 

In addition to increased network efficiency, the ADVA platform offers cost benefits to VOO from lower power demands, a benefit in terms of both cost savings and a growing movement towards energy awareness — the green movement.

 

As VOO grew its business, it was able, for some time, to accommodate that growth through more traditional means on interconnecting its networks, but now that it has deployed a next-generation service-enabling optical solution, it is well prepared to move forward with its triple play strategy.