As part of France's Very High Speed Broadband Plan, NGE and Altitude Infrastructure have won the Grand Est region's call for tenders and have been awarded the contract to deploy optical fiber for 1 million households in 7 departments.
PINs (Public Initiative Networks) are public contracts aimed at deploying optical fiber in less densely populated areas of France.
A 5,400 Km fiber optic backbone project
During the deployment of one of these FTTH PINs, our client, specialized in public works and sponsor of the FTTH deployment in this sector, called upon Sofrecom in order to meet several challenges:
- Improve existing processes and methodologies to meet rollout objectives
- Establish a work planning and resource management
- Manage the design office and steer the subcontractors and suppliers
The project aims to connect the Eastern France backbone network via 5,400 km of optical fiber and 260 NROs in order to connect approximately 1 million households.
Our experts in fiber optic networks have worked on the backbone, transport and distribution networks with the below objectives:
- Manage the backbone team consisting of 10 team members split over 4 different cities
- Ensure the backbone links delivery pace in phase with the sales targets
- Produce monthly reports and monitoring dashboards
- Optimize processes and budget enhancements whenever possible
Our expertise in managing an FTTH design office
The project was structured based on two pillars: the management of the backbone rollout and the reorganization of the design office.
Backbone Rollout Activity
We led the team in charge of the backbone network rollout, in order to secure the delivery pace of the backbone links in line with the objectives. This involved defining and implementing new methodologies to improve existing processes and use efficient reporting tools.
Another challenge was to prepare the ground for a better coordination between the teams in charge of the transport/distribution network and those in charge of the backbone network in order to :
- Mutualize civil engineering works when possible (cost and time savings)
- Synchronize the switch-on of the equipment to ensure a logical activation aligned with an efficient marketing.
Design Office Restructuring
The goal was to reorganize the engineering department in charge of the fiber design (HLD/LLD) so that it would be aligned with our client's contractual objectives.
Sofrecom's expertise in engineering and management of fiber optic projects has enabled us to:
- Respect the household delivery targets in the concerned cities
- Manage the FTTH design office
- Steer civil engineering and cabling subcontractors
- Ensure the proper operation of the deployed backbone network
A proven methodology
In order to successfully carry out this fiber optic connection project, our experts have:
- Defined the roles and scope of responsibilities in each of the 3 design offices involved,
- Matched resources with objectives (recruitment, internal reorganization).
- One of our experts then took over the management of the Design Office in Reims.
2.7 M€ Savings Thanks to Our Expertise in Fiber Optic Projects
Our client benefited from our experts know-how in Backbone, Transport and distribution networks.
The mastering of FTTH challenges as well as the experience acquired during projects of the same type in Saudi Arabia and in Benin, allowed us to guarantee the technical part of the project.
By implementing follow-up methodologies, our experts were able to make up for the activity interruption due to the COVID crisis and deliver 25,000 outlets per month instead of the 17,000 completed before the beginning of Sofrecom's assistance.
Sofrecom's project manager's stance and communication skills have proven to be an important asset in the good management of the backbone team, the acceptance of the proposed changes, and the successful interaction with the other entities for successful problem solving.
The implementation of an infrastructure mutualization process between the backbone and transport networks, resulted in 2,7M€ savings on the total budget of the project.
Customer benefits
The intervention of our experts over a period of 2 years, was beneficial for a qualitative and efficient rollout. Indeed, thanks to the intervention of our team, our client can now benefit of:
- A clearer planning aligned with expectations,
- A rebalancing of the workloads of the managed teams,
- Deployments in line with the contractual objective announced to the Region,
- Refined business processes, and regular monitoring of subcontracting,
- Optimized rollout budgets.
