Embark on a Journey to Take Fiber to the Top

Fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA) is being deployed at increasingly fast rates thanks to the signal integrity and increased energy efficiency it can offer operators. By placing remote radio heads (RRHs) at the stop of the antenna and using optical fiber to connect it to the base station, makes for easier installation, eliminates the need for tower amplifiers, and decreases overall air-conditioning power consumption.

The team at EXFO has been working with mobile network operators and their contractors to deploy FTTA for years—and noticed that some issues kept popping up. Wrongly connected SFP transceivers into the RRHs or at the base station, corrupted connector end faces, and missed adherence to compliance standards were often impacting the performance levels of FTTA site configurations.

The reason? Many field technicians, with a background in copper and RF, were struggling with installing optical fiber.

EXFO teamed up with network installation specialists from a major contractor in the US to spend a full day with a tower crew and capture, on film, the day-to-day reality of an FTTA deployment.The crew leads us as they explain the challenges they face and what standardized test methods work best for them.

The short documentary brings real-life tips from the top—where telecom daredevils work day in and day out to ensure FTTA success. View it here!