PacketFront delivers state-of-the-art FTTH network to the city of
Neunen
The residential city of Nuenen in the Netherlands has become the epicentre of
some very exciting innovation in the telecommunications industry, and
PacketFront’s technology is making it all possible.
Cooperative Success
A Dutch cooperative, Ons Net (Our Network) has organized Nuenen’s roughly
8,000 households, offices, schools, and shops into a purchasing collective with
power enough to demand state-of-the-art communications services. A very high
level of consumer commitment has guaranteed a critical mass of customers and
project financing.
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Installing fibre to the homes
in Neunen |
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Volker Stevin Telecom
recognized this opportunity and stepped in to build and operate a network
providing access to ‘triple play’ services: TV/video, telephony, and Internet.
PacketFront’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology and
BECS™ control
and provisioning system
were selected by Volker Stevin Telecom as
the optimal foundation for this revolutionary, open-access, and automated
network.
Advantages
Several design features in BECS reduce the complexity inherent in the
deployment and operation of an FTTH network. For example, when users access the
network from their premises, BECS discovers them and automatically provisions
end-user data services from a database – dramatically reducing complex manual
provisioning.
"A critical advantage of the BECS system is that it allows us to manage the access layer,"
says Marco Westenberg, Manager Business Development of VolkerWessels Telecom. "Bandwidth
prioritisation and Quality of Service (QoS) issues are managed directly,
allowing us to avoid complex redesigns."
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BECS™ reduces the
complexities of a
triple-play
network |
When rolling out a network the size of Nuenen’s, scalability is critical.
Various nodes in the network can be fully functional while the network is still
being built in other areas. Scalability also reduces initial investment and
operating costs. With BECS, additional provisioning systems are not required as
add-ons as the network grows. In fact, end users are provided with on-demand,
self-provisioning functionality that allows them to increase bandwidth capacity
and make service changes from home.
Business Model
Volker Stevin Telecom has chosen to remain strictly an access provider,
hosting the conduit in Nuenen for a variety of service providers to compete for
customers. On the ‘triple play’ network, a plethora of service providers will be
presented via the start-up user interface to Nuenen residents. Volker Stevin
Telecom, Ons Net, and PacketFront alike believe that more flexibility in the
business model leads to more choice, higher quality services, and lower prices
to consumers.
Volker Stevin Telecom has proven the benefits of the cooperative business
model already by getting this large project up and running in most areas in only
six months. An incredible market share of 97% of active users suggest strongly
that residential customers demand the kind of services that today’s property
owners would do well to provide.
