What is "deep fiber" - and why should developers/owners of multi-tenanted commercial and apartment buildings in Australia care about it?
Demand from households and businesses for speedy internet connectivity is only increasing. The pressure is on for owners/developers of apartment and commercial buildings such as shopping malls and office blocks to keep up in order to attract and keep tenants.
Image: chaitawat.
An increasingly important strategy for staying in front is the rollout of "deep fibre" or "fibre deep". The interchangeable terms sound anything from ominous to silly, but deep fibre simply refers to getting fibre as close to the end user as possible - in other words, fibre to the building (FTTB) or fibre to the premises (FTTP).
While fibre may run close to many Australian commercial premises and high-density residential buildings (or in the general area), an inferior connection from that point to the building acts as a bottleneck, degrading performance for those within the building. Deploying fibre deep into the building is the solution, hence the term.
However, this doesn't mean requiring fibre all the way to the wall socket. Category 6a cable, which is common in commercial data centers, may still be used inside these deep fibre buildings, but runs of CAT6A cable are kept short in order to ensure super-fast connectivity is still delivered. Short runs of CAT6A are capable of a maximum data rate of 10 Gbps on FTTB architecture.
The Cost Of Deep Fibre? It Can Be Zero.
Going "fibre deep" shouldn't be seen as an expense, rather an investment - and it doesn't have to involve significant outlay. Depending on the installation scenario, Melbourne's Lightning Broadband provides setup at no cost and makes it simple for tenants to then hook up to its service. Lightning Broadband not only assumes the financial burden of deploying deep fibre, but also all planning and maintenance activities.
Lightning Broadband can be brought in as part of construction of a new building, or retrofit its solution to an existing premises with minimum disruption to tenants, enabling older buildings to offer truly super-fast broadband. The company's solutions are already being used in many apartment developments in Melbourne, both in new and well-established buildings.
Lightning Broadband offers tenants within one of its Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) connected premises plans with speeds all the way up to 1,0000 Mbps (upload and download) - and unlimited data is a standard feature. The approach used by the ISP means commercial and residential tenants can hit the ground running soon after occupancy with a solution they'll know will suit their needs, both now and into the future.
The move towards "deep fibre" buildings isn't just a case of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), but more COMO (Certain Of Missing Out). With fast broadband no longer a wish-list item but a must-have, buildings unable to offer it will find it even more challenging to find and retain good tenants.
To discuss your building's connectivity needs, the Lightning Broadband team can be contacted on 1300 596 426 or via hello@lightningbroadband.com.au.
