Emtelle’s fibreflow technology ideal for FttH roll-out in New Zealand
Emtelle’s fibreflow technology ideal for FttH roll-out in New Zealand
June 2009, Sydney NSW
Emtelle is providing its fibreflow blown fibre technology to the electricity supply company Electricity Ashburton in New Zealand. The technology will be used in a high-speed fibre optic network. The project reflects a broadband boom in New Zealand, where the government has announced ambitious plans to provide high-bandwidth Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) access throughout the country.
The New Zealand government has announced plans to bring high-speed broadband access to over 75 percent of the country’s homes. In addition, it aims to increase broadband speeds to 100 megabits per second, more than 50 times faster than is currently available in the country. Such ambitions call for the use of FttH, and the government has committed $1.5 billion to this end. Emtelle believes that its blown fibre technology offers the capacity, the ease of installation and the flexibility to ensure the success of such a large-scale and ambitious undertaking.
This belief is shared by Electricity Ashburton, which chose Emtelle’s renowned fibreflow solution for its own high-speed fibre optic network, currently under construction as part of a network upgrade. The company plans to spend around $70 million on the network, which will be accessible to all the company’s rural, commercial and residential customers.
Emtelle’s fibreflow, offers various characteristics that make it ideal for FttH. For one fibreflow, allows rapid installation: contractors are laying up to six kilometers of conduit a day. Also, both network capacity and network reach can be increased without disruption to existing infrastructure: new fibre is simply blown into pre-installed ducts. Electricity Ashburton Network Manager, Brendon Quinn, says, “This offers many benefits because we don’t have to estimate end-user demand. This ability to increase fibre capacity in line with consumer demand reduces our initial startup costs.”
Electricity Ashburton is initially rolling out fibre to rural customers. Contractors have laid 80 km of tubing and will soon begin on another 120 km. The backbone consists of one conduit with four 12 mm and five 5 mm tubes with a capacity of 600 fibres. A conduit consisting of one 12 mm tube and ten 5 mm tubes will serve individual locations. “This will deliver unlimited capacity,” says Brendan Quinn, “Our initial target is to offer broadband speeds of 10 megabits per seconds or better.”
Electricity Ashburton has worked closely with Emtelle’s Asia Pacific business development manager Bill Mavridis, supported by Ideal Electrical Suppliers South Island data and communications regional manager Darryl Moloney. “We’ve had very good product and technical support from Bill,” Darryl Moloney says. “Emtelle is an end-to-end solution, so we don’t have to rely on multiple suppliers. Emtelle is also well supported with a network of accredited installers.”
Emtelle has worked on huge FttH projects in Europe and Asia, and has great potential to enable a broadband roll-out. “There’s no faster way to deploy fibre than blowing it through tubes with compressed air.” Bill Mavridis says. “Emtelle developed this technology and is the market leader. We provide a range of pre-assembled solutions to connect premises to the network.”
Increased bandwidth and accessibility are essential to generating economic growth, and both New Zealand and Australia are on the verge of some large and exciting infrastructure projects. Emtelle is excited to be a part of such developments, and believes – through experience – that fibreflow offers a range of technical, financial and strategic benefits that no other solution can match.
