Problems associated with FTTP delivery and how to overcome them

FTTP (or Fibre to the Premises) is one of the most common ways of delivering a high speed and reliable internet connection to modern properties. However, it's far from an easy process and requires a significant amount of thought to get right. Read on to learn more about FTTP delivery, some of the problems with it, and how these problems can be overcome in the long term.

How is FTTP delivered?

FTTP is delivered by simply offering fibre connections all the way to the premises and connecting the premise's router to the said fibre connection. Many of the UK's properties currently have copper lines coming into the property with a fibre infrastructure used up until the telegraph pole their wired connection comes from. This means that although there is fibre in the majority of the infrastructure, this benefit is lost to the consumer as copper wires are used to complete the system.

Copper wires are slower to transmit data than fibre and also struggle to deal with the high bandwidths that fibre can. This means that without fibre throughout the infrastructure, households may notice slower speeds across their devices, and services such as streaming and video games will experience high ping and packet loss.

Why is FTTP difficult to deliver?

One of the biggest difficulties in delivering FTTP is the existing infrastructure of leased lines. There are a couple of options for companies that want to implement a change in infrastructure, the first of which is completely dismantling the copper infrastructure before assembling the fibre one. This means that you are likely to see a significant outage in coverage for a prolonged period of time, and depending on the area being serviced, this could mean that dozens of households are left without access to the internet or phones for a day, or even longer.

The other option is building the fibre infrastructure parallel to the copper infrastructure and simply switching the two at the appropriate time, but this can be an expensive solution, and mistakes could cause severe outages for the copper network that need to be resolved whilst assembling another network. This is also known as bonded broadband as it combines two different broadband lines into one system.

What are the most common issues with delivering FTTP?

Aside from the issue of dealing with the present infrastructure, another problem with delivering FTTP is the price. Fiberoptic wire can be expensive, and providing FTTP to all premises, including business broadband, in an area is a significant undertaking that can be extremely expensive. In order to be worth it, this would require an almost 100% buy-in rate to fibre services, which is difficult to achieve in some areas, and some residents may not think that the upgrade is worth the effort.

Furthermore, FTTP may be difficult to achieve in a multi-property structure, such as a block of flats. Depending on when the building was constructed, copper wires may be built into the structure of the property with data points connecting flats to the internet. This means that implementing FTTP in these properties can be a significant undertaking, as a vast amount of work may need to be done to remove the copper wiring and replace it with fibre. This might not be a worthwhile undertaking for an ISP with very little fibre uptake amongst customers.

How do you overcome FTTP delivery problems?

Whilst there are some properties that FTTP is easy to connect to, many will struggle due to the nature of their current network. There are a few steps that you can take to make delivering FTTP easier in the long term.

- Plan in advance. Once you have enough properties wanting to make the switch, you can be prepared with a switchover date that everyone affected agrees with.

- Futureproof. Although fibre is the best way forward at the moment, it may be replaced in the long run. By futureproofing and making maintenance accessible, you can make your job far easier next time you upgrade or fix a problem.

- Learn. You will have completed FTTP installations in the past, and you will have made mistakes before. By putting learning at the heart of your process, you can ensure that your future installations are as smooth as possible.