FTTP (Fiber-to-the-Premises) Overhead Service Drops to the Premises/Residences

The City of Palo Alto, CA (City) is constructing a new FTTP (Fiber-to-the Premise) network. Palo Alto is a community in Northwestern California covering approximately 26 square miles, with a population of approximately 70,000 residents.

Outside plant construction of a pilot area of approximately 850 service endpoints, depicted below, is currently under contract.

Figure 1 – Fiber Drop Locations

The Internet Protocol (IP) Core and Subscriber Access Equipment contract has been awarded but drops and in-premise coordination/installation are being bid out in this IFB. The bid for this IFB includes:

• Drops including terminals or splice point to the premise.
• Customer “site survey” consisting of arranging and conducting a meeting with the premise owner to define:
  • Fiber drop demarcation point on the building.
  • Potential impediments in the drop path
  • Installation details (path, costs for extra components, etc.)
  • In-premise installation of network access equipment/provisioning
• Services offered by the Palo Alto network will eventually be available to all the residential and business in the City. The preliminary service take-rate is planned at 40%, but a higher percentage of adoption is anticipated.

FTTP is the installation and use of optical fiber from a central point directly to individual buildings (residences, businesses, and apartment buildings for example). Once installed, the optical fiber will transmit data, video and voice by using light signals to achieve higher performance. The FTTP network will be comprised of fiber optic cable that runs from a central office, through inner duct, and then to the premise (home or business) through a terminal that serves as a junction box.

The main benefit of FTTP is increased network performance, specifically higher speeds over a long distance. One major benefit includes improved performance for high-definition streaming on applications like YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix. FTTP will allow for multiple future upgrades without having to replace the fiber, making it more cost effective to operate.