The roll-out of very high-speed fixed broadband (VHSB) is one of the foundations of a nation's digital transformation. Its complexity lies not only in the diversity and volume of skills required to ensure its success, but also in the alignment of all players, from manufacturers to public services and operators, as embodied in a strategic plan.
Its success depends not only on the ongoing optimisation of deployment costs, but also on an overall organisation that guarantees the quality of deployments to ensure the longevity of infrastructures and the delivery of the promise to end-users.
Stakeholders to align
Deploying fixed HSBB is first and foremost a project for a nation embarking on the path of digital transformation, with a sustainable and structured vision.
This vision takes into account both the end customer, from the individual to the business, so as to give the infrastructure a meaning for the user, and the economic and demographic reality of the territory: which areas should be prioritised, what place should be given to the development of rural areas, etc? It is therefore the outcome of a multi-sector strategic study that brings together all the representatives of the various fields and concludes on the major directions to be taken.
Lastly, it is an ecosystem that needs to be mobilised with the shared aim of ensuring the success of this complex multi-year plan: coordinating network operators to ensure that rollout is complementary to their efforts, guiding local regulatory rules to both support the implementation of the plan and guarantee an appropriate competitive framework (rules on pooling or marketing, for example), or promoting acceptance of the plan by urban planning stakeholders while ensuring that their own priorities are respected.
Skills to be deployed
The unique aspect of implementing a roll-out plan probably lies in the diversity of skills that need to be mobilised on a massive and consistent scale throughout the various phases of the roll-out.
In the preparatory phase, a detailed study of the structure of the housing stock is the first step in the key stage of designing the network to be rolled out. This stage is all the more important as it fixes essential dimensions such as the structural dimensioning of the network: the tree structure, the maximum volume of trunk lines, etc.
The rollout itself relies on civil engineering skills, followed by rarer skills in the fibre industry such as welding, before the final result is ensured by end-to-end test teams. It will also have been preceded by the preparation of the technical centres responsible for deploying active HSBB infrastructures.
But the difficulty is compounded by the sheer volume of these different players. It should be noted that the implementation of national plans is often accompanied by the creation of dedicated training channels, which contribute to the benefits of a HSBB plan
Investments to be optimised
The financing of a HSBB plan is inevitably an issue, given the costs involved in such an often massive roll-out. So it's all the more important to guarantee optimisation using appropriate methods.
This starts with a design that incorporates this financial dimension. The latest design tools calculate the optimum length of fibre trunks and intermediate equipment such as coupling.
It continues with civil engineering: between re-using existing equipment where it makes sense and implementing specific methods such as micro-trenching, the cost savings are significant.
In the end, it is estimated that between 10% and 25% can be saved by combining good practice in these stages of the construction process.
But we must not overlook the quality of the work, which guarantees optimisation of the subsequent costs of maintaining the infrastructure in operation.
Controlling quality
The quality of implementation is therefore not just a guarantee of optimised operation for the end customer, but a mark of the durability of the infrastructure and therefore of the success of the national plan that decided on and organised its creation.
But how do you achieve this result when deployment is the result of a series of tasks involving so many different skills?
You have to accept that you have supervisory bodies that will check at the very moment the work is being carried out that it complies with the rules of the trade and the design framework that has been defined. Admittedly, this is an additional cost on top of a project that is already stretching financial resources to the limit, but the 7 to 10% of the production cost that it represents is an insurance policy that is reflected in the life of the network.
At the end of the day, it's an ambition you have to live up to
Admittedly, a HSBB rollout plan is a complex programme, but this should come as no surprise for a project that raises such high stakes for a nation: the transformation that accompanies digital uses is so structuring for the entire economic fabric that it justifies facing up to this complexity.
And finally, isn't this a wonderful adventure that will bring together the major political and economic players and leave a lasting mark on the life of the nation?
