What defines the higher quality of business fiber-optic infrastructure?

Independence

First of all, fiber has a very long technical lifespan, lasting at least 25 years. As a result, providers need to take into account the fact that companies will demand steadily increasing requirements and more demanding applications in the future. This need to anticipate future demands aims to prevent new, expensive excavations to upgrade the fiber again at a later stage. There is also an ongoing trend in the business market: companies increasingly refuse to accept limited freedom of choice. Companies, government bodies and non-profit organizations increasingly value a future-proof, open infrastructure. For instance, Eurofiber customers have the freedom to add services and applications to the fiber-optic connections themselves, or to opt for fully managed connections.

Uptime

The business market increasingly values maximum network uptime (availability). Uptime is usually 99.9 percent in practice. By adding a second, completely separate fiber route, it even becomes possible to increase uptime to 99.98% with minimal repair time. To accomplish this, Eurofiber provides meticulous monitoring of the fiber, ensuring that disruptions can be located instantly and resolved within a maximum of 8 hours. Obviously, that standard of service is only possible if the fiber provider has a completely registered, digital, nation-wide network and a network monitoring team that is on stand-by 24/7. In addition, business fiber-optic providers offer the option for redundancy: connecting a company office via two completely separate fiber-optic cables –and make sure that no planned work takes place on both routes at the same time.

Network construction

There are also considerable differences in the way fiber-optic providers lay cable for their business networks. To ensure optimal protection of its fiber-optic cables, Eurofiber has opted to install its network fully underground, at a depth of at least 60 cm. This makes it substantially less vulnerable to interferences and external influences. The network only emerges from the ground at the customer’s end locations or at PoP locations of the Ethernet and IP network. The entry and departure points and network access points are also underground. Besides providing high availability, this underground network also offers a high standard of security. In order to tap the data, you would need to physically dig into the ground, and every fiber-optic cable is sheathed in a sturdy conduit. The fibers are spliced in underground handholes with watertight fusion sockets. To achieve optimal performance (or: lowest attenuation), Eurofiber uses as few patches as possible, and the fibers are spliced from start to finish.

Speed

The capacity of the fiber-optic infrastructure is increasingly valued in the business sector. Demand for bandwidth continues to increase and lag is considered increasingly unacceptable. The bandwidth for household connections is capped at 100 Mb/s up and down, but demands up to 10 Gb/s are fairly standard in the business market; some companies even request 100 Gb/s services. This requires having the right systems in place on the fiber-optic infrastructure.

These are just a few examples of the high demands currently placed on the business-oriented fiber-optic infrastructure. As expectations continue to increase in the future, Eurofiber will make every effort to keep playing a leading role in that context. An optimal infrastructure and a professional support organization are the foundation for smarter, more efficient asset deployment by facilitating constant and reliable data exchange and unlimited data availability. This offers the option of providing solutions that are vital to society and the economy. Examples include innovative care, digital education, safe distribution of electricity, mobile traffic, and of course reliable internet access.