PPC News

A crucial step that every installer will negotiate during fiber cable installation in an apartment block or multi-story office building is to decide ...

No two homes are built the same, which means a TV and Internet service provider technician never quite knows what they’re getting into until they ...

TV and Internet service providers are always looking for ways to help improve the customer experience of their broadband network, while keeping costs ...

Category cable is one of the most widely used cables for domestic and commercial broadband networking. Whether you are installing access points, ...

In the modern world, we need our broadband to work fast and reliably - download speeds and picture and voice quality are what we as consumers care ...

We’ve written previously about the importance of maintaining the drop and home network to prevent ingress and egress. In the past we’ve described the ...

The advantages of fiber optic cable over copper wire are well understood. Fiber can transfer more data, in less time, over longer distances than ...

"Most of us understand that innovation is enormously important. It's the only insurance against irrelevance…" This quote from Gary Hamel highlights ...

In this post, we explore how you can future proof and differentiate a property through delivering a fiber solution, while also increasing customer ...

We've written a lot lately about connectors, fibers, installations, and technical problems in the field. We think we know what we're talking about ...

If you are trying to decide on a product to include in your network design or installation – and you have a choice between several products that meet ...

Bonding is the electro-mechanical joining of two or more conductors, to form a conductive path that ensures electrical continuity. Grounding is ...

These days, operators are faced with an increasing requirement to deploy in-building fiber broadband networks. The rising demand from consumers for ...

Many people involved in broadband network deployments appreciate that there could be "hidden" costs down the line because less expensive products ...

With increased bandwidth beyond 1 GHz, maintaining the correct carrier levels at a subscriber location is becoming more difficult. The challenge is ...

In managing the infrastructure of broadband networks, an often underacknowledged element is the coaxial cabling and connectors required to deliver ...

Delivering DOCSIS services, whether it is 64 QAM upstream (3.0) or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) 1024 (3.1), is often possible ...

A growing number of broadband subscribers are being given the option of installing or reinstalling customer-premises equipment (CPEs) themselves, ...

Terminators are simple devices that electrically terminate RF coaxial ports, both inside and outside of the home. The unused tap ports or wall plates ...

There is a limit to the bending ratio or tight diameter in a microduct or fiber cable - after which, the fiber starts to exhibit failure. The failure ...

Having the right hardline connectors is often overlooked when doing node replacements, node splits, or tap replacements in a broadband HFC (hybrid ...

The broadband headend environment evolves with the advance of technology and expands to satisfy consumer demand for data service. This poses ...

The broadband FTTH market is in its infancy in North America and very little attention has been paid to the last 150’ drop necessary to bring a low ...

LTE networks operating in the 700 MHz band are becoming widespread across North America and are growing globally as well. Broadband cable and some ...

Digging up roads and pavement to install new networks of any sort is never popular. Local residents dislike the disruption and the noise while ...

The relative costs involved in connecting subscribers to fiber networks can be deceptive. The critical element when evaluating fiber connections to ...

When it comes to choosing the amount and type of fiber to use in your system, protecting the fiber that carries telecommunications services is of ...

The disruption often caused when installing new fiber is never popular. Local residents dislike their roads and sidewalks being dug up while local ...

Fusion splicing is often used and is appropriate for trunk portions of a network; it offers low optical and reflection loss and splicing efficiency ...

Pushable fiber can be installed quickly and cost-effectively as the fiber drop for the final few hundred feet of a network. The beauty of pushable ...

There are numerous tasks involved in deploying fiber to the home (FTTH) technology and while some are obvious, others require more thought and ...

The last drop of a subscriber communications network - from the node or tap to the home (also known as the "drop network") - has traditionally been ...

As the use of FTTx architectures grows in the MSO community, the selection of a specific delivery architecture and technology should be based on the ...

Over half of the world’s population lives in units of 100+. In cities this figure can be even higher. This concentration and variety creates a ...

Protecting your fiber network is vital to ensure you continue to deliver services to your customers, retain their business, and get a good return on ...

As operators increasingly focus on deploying fiber to the home (FTTH) across their networks, they are looking at how they can minimize deployment ...

Whole home DVR installations can be tricky; MoCA filters are essential to prevent the DVR signals from emanating to neighbors' homes in coax systems. ...

In our digitally connected world, consumers increasingly require high speed broadband in their homes, whether for leisure, work, education or keeping ...

99% isn’t good enough! The cable industry is changing rapidly, with consumers increasingly demanding greater capacity so that they can download and ...

One of the questions asked about fiber to the home (FTTH) networks is simple – what are the applications that will need the high capacity and speed ...

Optical fiber is a fantastic medium for propagating light signals, and it rarely needs amplification in contrast to copper cables. High-quality ...

In a more and more competitive market, cable operators are increasingly looking to deploy fiber alongside coax services to their subscribers. This ...

The combination of greater urbanization and pressure on space means that more and more of the global population is now living in multi dwelling units ...

Most people have heard of Moore’s Law, which broadly states that the number of transistors on a silicon chip will double every two years, with a ...

Connecting a building to a fiber or coax network can be extremely complex. When planning the deployment, you need to take into account the ...

Fitting connectors to fiber optic cables in the field is a complex and highly specialized task. It is easy for dust and dirt to contaminate ...

In a previous blog I looked at the strong case for NGPON2, a fiber system which offers a minimum of 40 Gb/s aggregate downstream bandwidth, spread ...

Operators normally aim to standardize on a single fiber deployment methodology to simplify installations and reduce time to market. However, ...

Let’s face it - the telecoms industry doesn’t have the best of reputations when it comes to customer satisfaction. But something seems to be ...

As the pace of fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployments increases, operators face a different challenge – successfully installing fiber within ...

On both sides of the Atlantic, we are seeing a growing buildout of metro fiber networks, as well as a consolidation of national fiber, which will ...

Telecoms planners and installers know that new fiber network build costs are dominated by civils works (the installation of basic infrastructure into ...

A long time ago, in a network far, far away an epic battle took place between a powerful Empire and a band of freedom-loving rebels... This week’s ...

Spanish eyes are currently smiling on record growth in the fiber to the home (FTTH) market, as operators compete to roll out super-fast broadband ...

Fiber to the home (FTTH) deployments are set to ramp up significantly over the next two years. Especially in the US, we are now moving from the early ...

To the layperson, all fiber cables can seem the same, with the only potential difference being in their dimensions. But look closer and there is a ...

At first sight, a mobile network and a modern, optical fiber-rich, fixed line network have little in common. They might be seen as competitors. After ...

When rolling out a new fiber to the home (FTTH) network operators have to take into account multiple factors, including potential demand, deployment ...

PPC has been producing and selling Miniflex cable and pre-terminated QuikPush fiber to the home (FTTH) drop cable for the last 10 years. Our vision ...

When deploying a fiber network, one of the key factors used to calculate ROI is how long it will operate. After all, some copper networks have lasted ...

Deploying fiber in the field is often a dirty job. Installing in new buildings means working on a construction site, with all the mud, dust, and ...

Deploying an entirely new fiber network, while meeting tough budget constraints - all within tight timescales - is a challenge for any operator. Add ...

Across the world, people are increasingly demanding faster broadband - and it is often one of the factors they take into account when choosing where ...

We all regularly talk about Fiber to the Premise (FTTP)/Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks. But, in an era of specialization, often we only know about ...

While there are some similarities between copper and fiber last drop deployments there are also some major differences. If you don’t take these into ...

When deploying a fiber network, traditional trenching methods can be expensive and time-consuming, and cause extensive disruption to the local area. ...

In previous blogs, we’ve looked at what will drive demand for the increased bandwidth that fiber to the home connections provide. One of the biggest ...

In a previous blog I explored the move from GPON to NGPON2 fiber architectures, as telcos look to deliver gigabit speeds to their users. Things have ...

In a previous post, I looked at the six biggest causes of damage to fiber networks. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback, and additional stories, ...

In previous blogs we’ve covered the factors involved in choosing between an aerial or buried fiber deployment, as well as the different types of ...

Most of us know the story "The Emperor’s New Clothes" - Hans Christian Andersen’s fable where a foolish monarch is convinced that an invisible suit ...

The equipment you choose for your fiber deployment is crucial to whether it succeeds or fails. This is particularly true when it comes to the fiber ...

When it comes to deploying fiber, network planners have the options of blowing, pulling or pushing the cable. Each of these methods has different ...

The last mile of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) and Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC) aerial fiber deployments often run through crowded environments, where ...

No matter how well a fiber installation is planned and deployed, and how strong the cable you use, you can’t completely guard against problems down ...

Since they were first introduced in the 1980s, optical fiber cables have dramatically shrunk in size. A 96 fiber cable can now weigh 30kg/km (down ...

Today we are almost completely dependent on our connectivity. Thanks to the web, we are surfing, streaming, working more flexibly, and turning our ...

With a plethora of aerial fiber cable products on the market today it can be difficult to differentiate and fully appreciate why one construction is ...

When it comes to deploying fiber networks, installers and planners face multiple challenges. This is particularly true when it comes to the last drop ...

Many years ago when I was in Japan on business, I had the pleasure of travelling on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka. It ...

Whether through streaming HD content from the internet or accessing "traditional"’ TV programmes online, consumers are widening the ways in which ...

Many of us have experience of deploying fiber in the US and Europe, and know how tough that can be. However, installing fiber in Africa has its own ...

When deciding the best fiber architecture for their network, planners have to make the choice between point to point (P2P) or a passive optical ...

One of the toughest implementations to manage successfully can be when installing fiber at a Brownfield site, as we recently found at Denver ...

As Britain and the United States cut back on defence spending, the British Army will reduce the size of its trained-strength force from 101,210 in ...

The Irish government has announced an ambitious National Broadband Plan (NBP) to intervene in the provision of broadband services covering 700,000 ...

When creating a fiber network, even the best laid plans can be upset by deployment issues. While some of these, such as unexpected weather or ...

Across Africa, the deployment of high speed networks is accelerating, with the continent part-way through a connectivity transformation. The landing ...

Even in the midst of current fiber network rollouts, research and development is continuing on the next generation of optical technology, looking to ...

When planning, installing or updating a fiber network there are multiple issues that can push up cost and complexity. Many of these only manifest ...

Previously, we’ve looked at the applications that will drive the need for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks. One of the areas mentioned was the ...

In a previous blog, I looked at Standards Organizations, what they do and how they relate to each other. As a follow up this post looks at how ...

Earlier in February, I attended the 2015 FTTH Europe conference in Warsaw, where there seemed to be greater optimism around the European fiber market ...

In a previous blog post, my colleague, Tom Carpenter gave his views on the global Fiber to the Home (FTTH) market, and discussed the ongoing "net ...

Last year, I published a blog post on the steps you can take to reduce FTTX roll out costs, aiming to help spread best practice amongst the fiber ...

We live in a world that relies on real-time information, and fiber optic networks are critical to transmitting this data at the speed of light. This ...

Closures are the housings which contain and protect the individual joints in any fiber system, as opposed to fiber joining (fusion splicing, ...

Following on from my half year report back in June 2014, I thought it is worthwhile to share my views on what has been happening across the Fiber to ...

In the high-tech telecoms world, the credit for new advances often goes to smart scientists and busy entrepreneurs. However, there is a group of ...