Software helps hellas online build 450-km fibre network in Athens

28 MAY 2008 -- Bentley Systems, Inc. says that Attica Telecom, a telecom provider recently acquired by Greek carrier hellas online, has selected and deployed Bentley's communications software to design and build a 450-km fibre network in Athens and other major cities in Greece, including Thessaloniki.

The new network, which features a ring-based topology, will consist of more than 8,000 km of fibre-optic cable. The fibre-optic rings are built out with spokes to key buildings and the conduit architecture is designed to handle a growing business through the addition of sub-conduits and incremental fibre optic cables after the initial build.

Bentley says that Attica Telecom chose its communications software, including Bentley Fibre and Bentley Inside Plant, because of its ability to interoperate, help plan infrastructure of this scale, ensure design and build phases are executed at the lowest possible cost, provide easy access to all project data via a repository-based system, and create streamlined workflows.

Attica Telecom had started the design process with a number of different desktop applications, including Microsoft Access, Visio, Excel, and static CAD drawings. It soon became clear that this was not a productive approach, according to Bentley. Dimitris Nikas, head of GIS and fibre-optic documentation at Attica Telecom, explained, "Initially we worked with a series of products that were not interoperable and most of the design workflows required printouts and paper-based transactions to move things forward. This soon became unworkable because of the errors introduced into the process and because it was almost impossible to keep the data up to date across all of these programs and file types."

Attica Telecom wanted a package that would deliver cable information, access point information, duct information, splice enclosure information, building enclosure information, documentation of the fibre distribution panels, full documentation of the inside plant inventory, and customer information. In addition, it wanted to display this information graphically and make it readily available to all of the designers and construction engineers on the project.

The system also needed to be repository-based, allowing comprehensive data queries with easy data import and export tools. Moreover, it had to have the capability to support the correlation of logical events with a physical location.

"We chose the Bentley communications solution because the products are based on mature, tried-and-trusted technology," said Nikas. "In addition, there was no need for any form of custom development -- all we needed to do was configure the products to handle our data. As soon as we had installed the products and completed the initial setup, we were able to begin importing the existing data from our Access database and from Visio. At that point we were ready to go."

All design work for the network is now done using Bentley Fibre and Bentley Inside Plant, says the vendor. Bentley Fibre is used by many members of the hellas online team, from designers to field engineers and those dealing with customer issues.

hellas online has plans to deploy additional products in the Bentley communications products, including Bentley Geo Web Publisher for Communications. This product presents maps and diagrams in a Web browser environment for nontechnical users like customer service representatives. It also will deploy the ProjectWise collaboration system to take advantage of its comprehensive workflow and documentation management capabilities.

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