A paradigm shift is taking place: Outside plant (OSP) is being sold off to the highest bidder by the traditional Telcos--for good reason, as outside plant is costly and difficult to maintain.
In previous posts: Inadequate Campus Infrastructure and Understanding Infrastructure Is Your Future, I mentioned the need to plan and install adequate conduits. In fact, one of our key customer contacts held up a slip of paper with just one word on it--"CONDUITS"--as a reminder of what he had to accomplish for the campus that faced the prospect of no more copper facilities from the street. After more meetings and prudent action from a utility engineering and project management firm, the necessary work is outlined and scheduled to commence. Lesson here: hire a utility engineering and project management firm upfront and don't leave it to the architect or Telco to decide your fate.
Just minutes away, another campus customer was challenged to prepare their facilities for a Verizon FIOS installation from a utility pole (on their property) into their building. A crew came in and the GPS-guided bore pulled a 2-inch conduit to the building. A pull box was previously installed, making entry into the building. To allow for another vendor to install service, a 3/4-inch flexible conduit (orange color below) made by IPEX was installed. The flexible conduit has a pre-installed pull string, and the remaining space in the 2-inch conduit can still accommodate another cable, as can the flexible conduit. The orange and white nylon string below is installed from the utility pole to this pull box in the outer 2-inch conduit. The white nylon web (another type of pull string) is installed from each 3/4-inch flexible conduit from the pull box to the inside of the building.
The pull box installed is larger, with a larger 4-inch conduit containing two 3/4-inch flexible conduits that route into the building.
The pull box above is large enough to accommodate another 4-inch conduit into the building including another 2-inch buried conduit from the pole or street.
The question may arise, why add another 4-inch conduit or why have a pull box so big?
The last pull box improperly installed left me with sliced fingers, four of them, healing for a month. Always allow enough room for the installer. Getting a call to a job site because of an improperly and inadequately sized pull box isn't any fun. It doesn't mean that work can't proceed; it just may mean a little pain. More room is always better, especially when sub-duct or adding flexible duct is required.
More importantly, allowing for growth and sizing the facilities based upon need, perceived need and future needs often lead planners into a guessing game. The 3/4-inch flexible duct pictured only has a 1/2-inch opening, and realistically one more fiber cable can be added in the same flexible duct.
The potential for OSP remaining copper isn't high, since cable companies are also in the process of laying fiber. Google is laying fiber in other parts of the country, and Baltimore has been under contract with Comcast, thus preventing other services entering the city. Their contract runs out in 2016 and you can guess that many businesses already hammered by higher copper T1 and PRI prices for dedicated Internet and fractionalized offerings (Voice and Internet) are hungry for competitive services and alternative providers.
As long as Comcast and any other TV provider deliver services on coax, businesses and consumers are still at risk. Namely, it's copper, and copper conducts electricity, and these cables remain vulnerable to the weather and power transients. OSP Copper, including T1 and PRI technology, is old, noisy and antiquated. Fiber is the future and the future is now. At least for the couple of customers in my immediate domain--their future is already determined. Seize the moment and gain control of your facilities and don't let a carrier dictate your future network.
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