Huawei says it will supply its end-to-end (E2E) fiber to the home (FTTH) technology to Kenya's Safaricom for the service provider's FTTH network deployment, enabling Safaricom to expand its new home broadband services capability.
Despite Kenya's developing economy, its fixed broadband penetration rate of below 1% prevents service providers from meeting home and enterprise users' network requirements. Safaricom plans to enter the home broadband market, but is challenged by hurdles such as scattered user distribution, high network construction costs, and low early phase service provisioning rates and revenues, according to Huawei.
As Safaricom's first step for precise investment, based on the idea of value-oriented network construction, it will use analytics to determine network rollout in line with customer demand, says Huawei. Safaricom will then deploy Huawei's E2E FTTH technology to achieve efficient network construction and operation.
Safaricom can use existing metropolitan area network (MAN) optical cables and preferentially use aerial cables for improved network construction through infrastructure synergy and engineering innovation, according to Huawei.
The service provider will also realize fast deployment, centralized home access, and reduced network construction costs thanks to the synergies between the fixed broadband optical distribution networks (ODNs) and mobile backhaul networks. Such synergies will enable Safaricom to deploy mini optical line terminals (OLTs) and wireless base stations in the same cabinet, Huawei adds.
Huawei says its lightweight mini operations support system (OSS) will enable Safaricom to reduce the system integration period and complete deployment within only three months, as opposed to 18 months. Installation rates will double, and the service provisioning period will decrease from two weeks to less than 48 hours as a result of Huawei's smartphone App, which integrates installation, maintenance, and operations, supporting on-site service provisioning and acceptance.
For related articles, visit the FTTx Topic Center.
For more information on FTTx systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.