Muni fiber: L1 or L2?

Wed Feb 6 15:06:19 UTC 2013

> However, for any given ring, you are locked into a single technology and
> you have to put active electronics out in the field.
>

Correct, but you can have many layer 2 rings riding your physical ring.  In
a normal install you're going to have over a hundred fibers in your
physical ring, I'd personally build it with over two hundred, but that's
just me.

Here's the Graybar catalog with a good breakdown of the kinds of fiber you
can choose from, though you have to have a rep to get pricing:

http://www.graybar.com/documents/graybar-sps-osp.pdf

>
> You can't, given a ring architecture, provide dark fiber leases.
>

That's incorrect, you simply don't have as many available but in a current
"normal" build you could easily provide 100+ dark fiber leases that extend
from your MDF (still don't like using this term here) all the way down to
the home or business.

> I realize it is your argument that one doesn't need to do so, there's no
> market
> for it, etc. However, I don't agree with you.
>

No, my argument is that the demand for dark fiber is very low and so
building your network so you can provide every single connection as dark
fiber is wasteful.

>
> Sure, but, you're ring only works with things that do L2 aggregation in the
> field with active electronics in the field. This means that for any L2
> technology
> a particular subscriber wants to use, you need to either already have that
> L2
> technology deployed on a ring, or, you need to deploy another ring to
> support
> that technology.
>

First, exactly how many and what Layer 2 technologies BESIDES Ethernet do
you think you have a market for?

>
>
>
> VPNs are popular today (whether MPLS, IPSEC, or otherwise) because
> L1 connections are expensive and VPNS are (relatively) cheap.
>
> If dark fiber can be provided for $30/month per termination (we've already
> agreed that the cost is $20 or less), that changes the equation quite a
> bit.
> If, as a business, I can provide corporate connectivity and internet access
> to my employees for $30/month/employee without having to use a VPN,
> but just 802.1q trunking and providing them a router (or switch) that has
> different ports for Corporate and Personal LANs in their house, that
> changes the equation quite a bit.
>

First, there are very few businesses in the size town we've been discussing
that even have this scenario as a wish list item.  Second, how many
businesses that need/want remote connectivity for their workers at home
AREN'T running Ethernet on their corporate LAN and at the employees' home?
 Another thing to remember is that many businesses run VPNs because of the
encryption and controls it provides, not because they can't get or afford
direct connectivity.  You have a vanishingly small set of potential
customers IMO.

>
> Admittedly, this only works for the employees that live within range, but
> it's an example of the kinds of services that nobody even imagines today
> because we can't get good L1 services cheap yet.
>

This is the key point.  IF someone was able to put together a nationwide or
even regional offering to allow inexpensive Layer 1 connectivity things
would be different.  However, that's not going to happen AND we already
have good cheap solutions to deal with that.  Most commonly VPLS over GRE
or VPN whose only real cost beyond the basic home Internet connection, is a
~$350 CPE that supports the protocol.  So, if you're running a company with
regional or nationwide offices and home workers would you be attracted to a
more limited method of connection that is only available in certain areas
as opposed to the solution that works everywhere?  Which is easier for your
IT staff to support?

> Sure, but elsewhere you've pointed out that the last 20 yards are where
> most
> of the problems occur… Guess what… The last 20 yards should be the service
> provider, not the L1 in this case. If you're worried that the tech will
> blame problems
> in the last 20 yards on the prem. loop, that's a matter of teaching them
> where
> to plug in the box for testing the L1 loop.
>
> MMR-------[B-Box]------[Customer Patch]------[IW Termination]
>
> 1.      Plug into IW Termination
>                 If it works, great, you're done. If not:
>
> 2.      Plug into Customer Patch.
>                 If it works, problem is isolated to the IW side of things,
> not the
>                 muni's responsibility.
>
>                 If it doesn't, contact the muni and schedule a joint visit
> to
>                 troubleshoot. Muni will provide an OTDR. Any
> modulation-specific
>                 diagnostic gear to be provided by the service provider.
>
> I'm willing to bet that I could teach this to the average installer in a
> matter
> of minutes.
>

I'm not gonna argue the troubleshooting point anymore, far be it for me to
deny you the opportunity to hit your own thumb and learn the lesson that
way.

-- 
Scott Helms
Vice President of Technology
ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
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http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
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