Using CWDM, how will you extend the bandwidth with only one fiber?

The telecommunications industry has faced very rapid growth in the amount and type of data.

The next-generation network – 5G – driving the development of IoT means that various type of data are transmitted in real-time from multiple devices simultaneously. The quality of such transmission is determined by the operator’s chosen technology and systems, which aim for secure, optimal and reliable transmission.

In an effort to provide the highest level of service, it is necessary to increase connection capacity significantly. This is the challenge faced by all telecommunications operators – both smaller and larger, who provide large-scale services and have vast data resources at their disposal.

Today, we have a case study on how a telecom operator launched more services using only one fiber.

Problem: Limited fiber count

Telecom operators are aware of the growing need to expand bandwidth. This is what their customers expect of them and what they need to do to keep up with the market and emerging trends. However, what about when they only have one fiber available?

Such a problem, was encountered by one of our customers – a medium-sized telecoms operator who leased one fiber from another, much larger operator. He had data transmission running on the same fiber, using single fiber transceivers (BiDi).

At the time of sending the enquiry to us, his demand for services in this relation had increased. The customer was therefore faced with a difficult decision: either to lease another fiber or increase the efficiency using the fiber currently leased.

Solution: CWDM implementation

A much more favourable choice was to expand the transmission capacity of the existing fiber. This is what we did.

Implemented CWDM at the customer’s site; it enabled different data streams to be transmitted over a single fibre. This was due to the wave multiplexing that xWDM technology is characterised by.

The launch of the CWDM system and the use of optical modules compatible with this technology, resulted in the customer increasing his network capacity quickly, launching more services, saving huge amounts of money and gaining the ability to easily launch further services in this relation as demand grows.

So, what was the purpose of implementing CWDM?

• Launch of additional services/data transmission
• Possibility to transmit data at 10 Gbps
• Improved fiber efficiency
• Reduction of costs for leasing additional fiber (use of existing fiber instead of leasing more)
• Gain the ability to launch more services in a given relationship in the future

Actions: Which steps have we taken?

The implementation of the new technology at the client’s site required the following steps:

1. Gathering data on the customer’s infrastructure to prepare a technical offer accordingly.
2. Preparing several variants of the offer for the client to visualise the costs of a system that meets their current and future needs.
3. Creating a set of good practices and guidelines to facilitate the implementation and maintenance of the system.
4. Technical support for the client during the cooperation (after-sales service).
5. Verification of the correct operation of the system.

The effects? See for yourself!

• PLN 75,000 savings on network modification compared to the average cost of leasing 8 fibers over a distance of 10 km per year
• 8-fold increase in network throughput
• 7 days to implement the CWDM solution without the need for additional staff training

Here’s how the network looked using CWDM: