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It’s crunch time for Swisscom. The Swiss fibre-optic network is being expanded to cover the whole of the country. Progress is being made community by community and district by district. At the heart of the rollout: Network 41 and its team of experts.
Unfortunately, the fibre-optic network in Switzerland is quite a patchwork. While the network is well established in various cities, there are large gaps in the communities between them. Swisscom is now taking action here, with plans made to expand the fibre-optic network to cover the whole of Switzerland. Network 41 is part of this project as preferred partner of Cablex. “The task is an extremely complex one,” comments project manager Roland Müller. “Many parts of a puzzle have to fit together before a community is completely connected to the network.”
The major challenge is receiving the necessary approvals for all lines and installations within a reasonable period of time. “We start with an implementation blueprint ,” explains Roland Müller. “Here, we draw up all of the planning documents for the acquisition. In other words, we have to secure the rights to the buildings and transmission lines, both from private landowners and public authorities.” We are constantly confronted by private landowners who refuse to have the transmission lines routed through their property or Micro Cans installed there. Moreover, the planning and approval process varies between municipalities and between cantons. This means we have to remain flexible in order to find a solution. “If necessary, we carry out a redesign so that the project can still be implemented according to the requirements from Swisscom.”
The next step involves the planning of the fibre optics, which are then checked and inventoried. This forms the basis for ordering the materials. From this point on, the team from Network 41 leap into action implementing the civil engineering, cable feeding and splicing, plus the installation of Micro Cans. While this sounds routine in theory, difficulties can arise in practice if the teams are confronted with different on-site conditions to those expected according to the plans. As this work is carried out at the nerve centre of the system, this means that the specifiers in back office have to work out a solution immediately to keep any interruptions at the customer to a minimum. The final planning phase deals with the coordination of the splicing work in order to establish connections to the existing copper domestic connections.
“The demands on the specifiers are very high,” comments Roland Müller. “We work with special tools that are provided by Swisscom. Around six months are needed before a member of our team can work with these tools on their own. The introduction at Swisscom takes one month, with in-house supervision then lasting a further four to five months.” 20 specifiers from Network 41 are currently assigned on behalf of Swisscom or Cablex. These specialists are able to manage multiple projects simultaneously whilst remaining on top of the overall situation at all times.
Network 41 is one of the few companies in Switzerland to be able to offer engineering services in all three national languages. At present, 13 municipalities in German-speaking Switzerland are being looked after as e2e package projects, with a further 18 communities receiving pure engineering support. The project got under way in September 2017. The entire Swisscom project will last between four and five years – until around 2022. The final deadline for the first subproject at Network 41 was July this year. As Roland Müller is pleased to announce: “It has not been a problem meeting the deadlines up to now.”
FTTS for faster surfing in rural areas, too
Swisscom has largely opted to use FTTS (Fibre to the Street) in rolling out its fibre-optic network outside conurbations, and Network 41 is one of a small number of partners to have been commissioned to carry out this development and modernisation work. As a result Network 41 is now out and about all over Switzerland: in 2015 alone it already provided a faster network for more than 20,000 households.
In less densely populated areas, FTTS is the faster option for fibre-optic network development as compared to FTTH (Fibre to the Home). Network 41 initially takes care of installing the fibre-optic cable from the central office to the cable duct, which is located approx. 200 m away from the buildings themselves. In the duct, the system technology is installed that transforms the pulses of light transmitted by the optical fibre into electronic signals. The cables are newly spliced and the existing copper wiring is used for the final section up to the building.
«One particular challenge we face is ensuring that Swisscom customers only experience short service disruptions (telephone, internet and television) - even when cable types up to 80 years old have to be spliced with modern copper cables. So we’re always careful to plan and organise our work in advance, as well as providing our specialists with training to ensure they keep up-to-date with the latest developments,» says Dave Frühauf, a Network 41 project manager.
Network 41 gets the Swisscom network up to speed!
Network 41 pulls cables – a truly powerful performance
Our telecommunications networks are subject to ever-increasing demands. The need for faster connections with higher bandwidths – even in rural areas – means that either the old cables have to be replaced or new ones installed. Network 41 places its trust in its qualified staff to carry out this work.
In the last five years, Network 41 has replaced old trunk cables with fibre optic cables in 8,500 households for ewl energie wasser luzern. The aim is to complete the job for the whole of Switzerland in the years to come. This makes huge demands in terms of the quality and coordination of the work.
When the cables are replaced, the existing cable ducts are probed with a pipe coil first of all so as to trace the path. If possible, the draw cord for the new cable is pulled in at the same time. If the tubes are not continuous or it isn’t possible to trace the path, a camera is used to help identify any additional work that needs doing – such as replacement of defective tubing by underground construction teams. The job of drawing in the cables is supported by a cable feed machine with a traction capacity of up to 2.5 tons.
«It’s particularly challenging to do this kind of work in the city on busy streets. The staff on our teams are well qualified: they’re trained for both underground construction and cable feed. So each individual knows what everyone else is talking about, the work can be carried out quickly and meets high quality standards – and it's all thanks to the perfect combination of machine power and staff expertise,» says Jörg Pfulg, Network 41 project coordinator.
Network 41 – always pulling its weight for you!
The world in which we live is becoming increasingly digital. In our private lives we surf the internet and watch high-resolution television. At work, virtually everything is dominated by electronics. This development is unstoppable, with products such as cloud computing and 3D television soon to be launched on the market.
What work is being done? The answer to this development is «Fibre to the Home» (FTTH) – i.e. the installation of fibre optic cables from the local exchange right into people's living rooms. These cables allow signals to be sent by means of light impulses, thereby putting a whole new digital experience on the screen. Network 41 is involved in this exciting project in most major cities such as Lucerne, Bern, Basel and Zurich in collaboration with its partners Swisscom (Schweiz) AG, ewl energie wasser luzern and Energie Wasser Bern.
How is it going to happen? Swiss households in urban areas are to be connected to the fibre optic network so as to be able to tap into bandwidths of over 100 MBit. In collaboration with its partners and deploying its own specialists, Network 41 has overall responsibility for rolling out the fibre optic network, including project management, acquisition, planning and implementation. For this purpose there are a number of installation teams working in parallel so as to ensure everything is completed as quickly as possible for residents. This requires a high degree of coordination, a detailed sense of how things are interlinked and enormous flexibility – in order to be able to respond effectively to anything unexpected.
The future is clear – because it’s made of glass!
The network of the future
The question arises every time a new building goes up. And our answer is: yes, copper cables are still up-to-date. This is because the wiring still meets today's technical requirements. With the right components, copper offers plenty of space for data via telephone and modem. It is no problem at all to enjoy watching television in HD quality while surfing the internet on your tablet at the same time.
Copper is by no means antiquated, even compared to fibre optics. Today - and most certainly in the future, too - copper wiring is the standard for installation in every new building in Switzerland. The basic connection for every new building is made of copper. The cables are an integral part of the public telecommunications service.
Network 41 is proud to be able to contribute significantly to this service by carrying out vital and extensive work for Swisscom. Every year, more than 1,500 buildings are connected using copper.
Our assembly teams are deployed in the regions of Central Switzerland, Aargau and Baselland. Network 41 covers everything from the initial customer contact through to underground construction and installation.
We have the right staff and the appropriate tools to do the work, and our experience feeds into integrated network and underground construction projection. Installation of copper wiring is one of Network 41’s core areas of expertise.
Copper is part of the public service offered by Network 41!
