Slaying the Dragon: The Why, Where and How of Dispersion Testing

Who doesn’t love a great tale of customer service? Here’s one that probably sounds familiar:

Once upon a market, subscribers demanded faster networks. Operators heard their pleas and worked hard to deliver faster data rates through cutting-edge technology and new fiber deployments.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Meet dispersion, the villain lurking around your next-generation networks and posing a serious threat to profitability and performance. Dispersion can cause everything from sporadic errors to systematic failures—unless you can find and take it out first.

Why? Dispersion issues are expensive and can seriously impact quality of service. Network operators must absorb more truck rolls, operating expenses and capital expenditures to equip additional technicians to maintain system performance. 

Where? Many, but not all, network types require dispersion testing. The fiber must be long enough and the baud rate high enough. In particular, metro, core, submarine and some parts of fiber mobile networks should be tested. 

How? First, study your enemy—do you know enough about dispersion to fight your foe? Next, prepare to slay the dragon with a simple, automated testing solution designed for the new market reality.