self-provisioned fiber planning · this presentation is designed to provide information regarding...

SELF-PROVISIONED FIBER PLANNINGJeffrey W. Harris - Consultant

Jeffrey W. Harris – ConsultantCopyright 2015

This presentation is designed to provide information regarding some items that should be

considered when designing a self-provisioned fiber-optic network and writing the associated RFP. While this presentation contains some

information on eRate eligibility and associated rules for Self-Provisioned Fiber – Applicants are

encouraged to review the rules and, if necessary, check with a competent eRate consultant or the

SLD on such matters.

This presentation is sponsored by

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Providing reasonably priced eRate Consulting and Filing services to districts for over 15 years!

CRW CONSULTING

• Experienced & Knowledgeable: Founded by Chris Webber in 2000, CRW has provided E-rate solutions for hundreds of schools districts in obtaining and managing literally hundreds of millions of dollars in E-rate funding.

• Erate Management Professionals Association (e-MPA): Chris is a member of E-MPA and is one of only 29 individuals certified by e-MPA nationwide.

• Dependable: Over 90% customer retention rate, references available upon request (plenty of testimonials on website).

• Training & Program Updates: Weekly webinars during the E-rate filing season that get recorded and stored in your client portal so you can view whenever you have time.

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CRW CONSULTING

• Complete solution – CRW Consulting offers turn-key E-ratesolutions for a fixed price (or contingency)

• Filing Forms 470, 471, 472, 486, 479 - Included!

• Selective Review (mini-audit) - Included!

• SPIN changes – Included!

• Service Substitutions or BEAR forms – Included!

• Manage your bid process (should you choose that option) – Included!

• Review of your CIPA documentation for E-rate compliance – Included!

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YOU NOW HAVE OPTIONS FOR WAN

• Lit Leased Service (Gigaman, TWC, etc.)• Dark Fiber*• Self-Provisioned Fiber*

Must be competitively bidMust be cost-effective (Apples-to-Apples TCO)*Must also bid lit leased service

5Jeffrey W. Harris – ConsultantCopyright 2015 Information from May 20, 2015 FCC Workshop in Washington DC

SELF-PROVISIONED FIBER PLANNING

• Locations to be serviced• Master Plan• Network Topology• Installation Method• Right-of-Way• Construction Details• Fiber-Optic Cable• Maintenance and Operations• Equipment to Light the Fiber• Project Bidding• Bid Evaluation

6Jeffrey W. Harris – ConsultantCopyright 2015

LOCATIONS TO BE SERVED

• Schools• Admin Buildings?• Internet service provider Point-of-Presence

(POP)• Other?


MASTER PLAN

• Even if this is only going to connect some of the buildings initially, there needs to be a master plan

• Is the district growing?• Will you ever be connecting with City, County,

Colleges or Universities in your area, an EDC?• Are there other needs to consider?


FIBER BASICS

Generally, a fiber connection consists of two strands of fiber – or a pair of fiber. For this example we are taking about a connection between the network operations center and a school.

In the example below, the red fiber strand is the transmit for the NOC and receive for the school. The blue fiber strand is receive for the NOC and transmit for the school. Together the send and receive strands represent a fiber pair.


Transmit

Receive Transmit

ReceiveNOC School

FIBER BASICS

In the Fiber Network Topology slides that follow, I will use one green line to represent a fiber pair. So every time you see a diagram in this presentation showing a fiber connection between two buildings, the green lines represent one pair of fiber (two strands).


Fiber pair (two strands)NOC School

NETWORK TOPOLOGY

What topology will you use?• Point-to-Point• Star• Hub & Spoke• Linear (Bus)• Partial Mesh• Full Mesh• Ring• Dual Ring


POINT-TO-POINT / STAR / HUB & SPOKE

PROS CONS

• Simple • Limited scalability• No resiliency

12

Fiber run to each school


A

B

C

DE

POINT-TO-POINT / STAR / HUB & SPOKE

PROS CONS

• Simple • Limited scalability• No resiliency

13

Fiber run to each school


A

B

C

DE

LINEAR / BUS

PROS CONS

• Less expensive than STAR• Possible to take advantage

of one cable run to connect multiple locations

• Limited scalability• No resiliency

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Fiber run along one path, with fiber strands dedicated to each school


A C

B D

LINEAR / BUS

PROS CONS

• Less expensive than STAR• Possible to take advantage

of one cable run to connect multiple locations

• Limited scalability• No resiliency

15

Fiber run along one path, with fiber strands dedicated to each school


A C

B D

PARTIAL MESH

PROS CONS

• Scalable• Some resiliency

• More expensive

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Fiber run from NOC to each school with fiber strands dedicated to each school. (STAR)There are also additional fiber runs between some schools


A B

C

DE

PARTIAL MESH

PROS CONS


• More expensive

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A B

C

DE

PARTIAL MESH

PROS CONS


• More expensive

18



A B

C

DE

PARTIAL MESH

PROS CONS


• More expensive

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A B

C

DE

FULL MESH

PROS CONS

• Scalable• Resilient

• Much more expensive

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Just like the Partial Mesh, there are fiber runs from NOC to each school, each school has dedicated fiber strands, and ALL schools are also connected to ALL other schools


A B

C

DE

RING

PROS CONS

• No resiliency

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• Scalable• Economical

Each school has a dedicated fiber pair from the NOC, but the same pair used for school A is also used for school E. This requires fewer fiber strands, but provides no resiliency.

A B

C

DEJeffrey W. Harris – ConsultantCopyright 2015

RING

PROS CONS

• No resiliency

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• Scalable• Economical

Each school has a dedicated fiber pair from the NOC, but the same pair used for school A is also used for school E. This requires fewer fiber strands, but provides no resiliency.

A B

C


DUAL RING

PROS CONS

• Slightly more expensive than Ring configuration

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• Scalable• Economical• Resilient

Similar to Ring topology, except that each fiber pair is dedicated to a single school. This results in two data paths to the school and provides resiliency. A cut anywhere on the ring will NOT result in loss of connectivity to any school.

A

B

C


INSTALLATION METHOD

• Aerial – Hung from existing poles or on customer-owned poles

24Jeffrey W. Harris – ConsultantCopyright 2015 Photo courtesy of The Fiber Optic Association, Inc.

INSTALLATION METHOD

• Buried – Installed into an open trench, either directly buried or inside of one or more conduits


Photo courtesy of The Recorder, Recorder.com. Photo courtesy of California State University

INSTALLATION METHOD• Directional Boring – Conduit is installed using boring

equipment with minimal surface disruption and fiber is pulled through the conduits


Photo courtesy of The Imgarcade.com.

WESLACO ISD


• 4 concentric rings

• Plus 3 future rings

• NOC is the red star

• Each red/blue circle represents a manhole

• Approximately 26 mile of fiber

• Total cost +/- $2m

QUESTIONS


RIGHT-OF-WAY

• You will need permission to install in an existing right-of-way, or will need to acquire easement(s)

• Even if you use aerial fiber, you will need permission to attach your fiber to existing poles, or will need to acquire easements to install your own poles

• Special circumstances will require additional permissions:• Attaching to bridges, • Crossing RR lines• Crossing or running along the side of state/federal roadways• Crossing Irrigation District pipelines• Others

• Who will be acquiring access and filing for permits?


CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

• How deep will you want your buried or bored installations?

• Do you need marking tape for buried installations?• What type of conduit will you specify for buried and/or

bored installations?• Will you require conduit testing prior to fiber installation?• Will you require pull strings?• Will you be providing splicing details (especially

important if this is an add-on)• Will you require signage for conduits and Manholes?


CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

Building entrance –• Is there an existing cable entrance vault?• Will you accept PVC or require Rigid pipe?• Where will you transition from outdoor to indoor

fiber?• Does your inside cable need to be plenum rated?• Where will the fiber terminate?• Who is providing the LIU?• What type of termination is required?


FIBER-OPTIC CABLE

• What type of fiber do you need?(method of installation and modulating equipment will dictate to some degree)

• How many strands will you need for each location?

• Will you be installing spare strands?

• What are your tolerances for splices and terminations?

• Based on distances, splices, future repairs and hardware specifications– will the anticipated dB loss be within tolerance?

• What tests will you require be conducted on the fiber?


MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS

• How will fiber-cuts be handled?

• Will 1st year maintenance be included in the RFP?

• Who will conduct your fiber locates?

• How will your signage be maintained?


Photo courtesy of Promarksupply.com.

Photo courtesy of Reelindustries.comPhoto courtesy Stonehousesigns.com

PROJECT BIDDING• For self provisioned RFPs, or Dark Fiber RFPs, you are required to also bid lit

leased service

• The RFP needs to be detailed (per USAC)

• Vendors will need more sufficient time to understand your needs and put together a proposal – probably more than the required 28 days

• In order to obtain funding for self-provisioned fiber, it must be cost effective

• How many years will you use for the comparison?

• You will need to extrapolate bandwidth needs across that time frame and estimate the cost over your selected term

• Your comparison to lit leased service needs to be Apples-to-Apples across your timeframe


NETWORK EQUIPMENT

• Do you currently have a Wide Area Network -OR- are your schools each being serviced directly by your Internet service provider?

• Does each location already have equipment in place capable of lighting the fiber?

• Will you be connecting at 1Gbps? 10Gbps? 40Gbps? 100Gbps? and will your existing equipment be able to handle it?

• Do you already have the correct equipment including blades and modules?

• Are you considering DWDM? And if so, will your current equipment be able to handle it? Will the fiber you have specified handle it?

• If you don’t already have the proper hardware and modules, you will need to include the appropriate components in your RFP so that you can conduct an adequate comparison to the lit leased fiber solution

• The hardware you have or that you select may affect your fiber-strand counts


RULE CHANGES

Old Rule• Special Construction

Costs over $500,000 were spread out over 3 years

• District up-front share had to be paid the first year


New Rule• Special Construction

Costs can be paid the first year

• District up-front cost can be amortized over up to 4 years

RULE CHANGES

Old Rule• eRate would only pay

Special Construction Costs up to the Applicant’s property line

• Modulating electronics to light the fiber were not eligible as Category 1 Service


New Rule• eRate will pay Special

Construction Costs to wherever the fiber needs to be laid

• Modulating electronics to light the fiber ARE eligible as Category 1 Service

38USAC Slide from 2015 Applicant Training

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)

Special Construction Costs Installation Engineering Project Management

Equipment Maintenance Operations


CONCLUSION

There is a lot to consider when you write this RFP. Any detail that you leave out will:• increase the number of questions you will

receive from vendors, • slow down your bid process (possibly causing

you to issue an extension), and • increase the complexity of evaluating the

responses.


CONCLUSION

In the end this will be YOUR fiber…

Don’t you owe it to yourself, the teachers, and the students to make sure it is done right?


QUESTIONS


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Jeffrey W. Harris [email protected]

Chris Webber [email protected]

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