PPC blog

PPC Broadband, Inc. has acquired the Nebraskan-based fiber provider, Net-Tech Technology (NT2) - a move that will add a range of innovative optical passives products to PPC's fiber business unit.

"Broadband providers are driving fiber deeper into their networks, increasing speed and capacity to meet subscriber demand," says PPC President Dave Jackson. "The year-over-year spend continues to increase and we believe this trend will continue well into the future." 

Hardline coax connectors are some of the most important pieces to delivering service to a subscriber’s home network, so making sure the connectors and cables are prepped and installed properly is vital to network performance.

Hardline cable is used from the headend through the trunk and feeder lines, to the subscriber’s home, and there are many connectors used at the fiber node, amplifiers, line extenders and multitaps.

The quality of components used in drop networks and the skillfulness of the drop installation play a major part in a subscriber’s network performance. But what happens when those parts are out of date?

The parts visible from the headend to the side of the home, and components from the wall plate to the CPE (customer premise equipment), may be brand new and installed properly, but that doesn’t mean most of the premise wiring is up to date.

The broadband headend environment evolves with the advance of technology and expands to satisfy consumer demand for data service. This poses challenges in many ways – space is at a premium, reliable power is essential, security has to be perfect, and the air has to be kept to specific parameters.

With respect to space, the headend environment has seen a transition from standard RG6 cable to high-quality mini-coaxial cable and connectors that have a smaller footprint, such as MCX-type connector products. So to accommodate technologies from video programming to 2-way digital service - the processing, receiving, and transmitting has to be better as the threshold of services such as DOCSIS 3.1 demands a more stringent network performance.