FTTHCon: Embarq slashes FTTP deployment costs

Embarq has thus far brought FTTP to 129 developments representing 22,000 homes. But the rate of new home construction in the carrier’s service territory has slowed drastically as a result of the home mortgage industry crisis, particularly in places such as Nevada and Florida. The rate of new home construction in Embarq’s territory is roughly half of what it was three years ago, Hansen said.

Where Embarq is deploying fiber perhaps most aggressively today is cell towers, where it hopes to sell backhaul transport to wireless operators and where the time-to-market pressure is considerable. “If we get to the cell site first with fiber, we’ll control the site,” Hansen said. “If we get there second, there’s no need to go there because there’s not going to be a market.”

But the company has learned the folly of moving too quickly. It was an early adopter of Marconi’s fiber-to-the-curb technology (now Tellabs’), having deployed the gear in 1992 and racked up 98,000 customers by 1996. That architecture has since been eclipsed by fiber-to-the-node.
“Remember FTTC? Now I lie awake at night worrying about how to replace it,” Hansen said. “It’s pretty ancient gear – 16-year-old electronics.”

At the same time, he is well aware of the danger of moving too slowly. “We have to increase capacity,” he said. “Some people think you can ride the copper plant for another decade or so. Those people are dreaming.”