Is Sustainability The Missing Piece To Future-Proof Your Access Network?

What does sustainability mean for you as a broadband service provider (BSP)? How can you build an access network that will last for decades? Is sustainability the missing piece in your future-proof secure network design?

What Is Sustainability?

Sustainability is about more than just recycling; it's about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. We should all be concerned with leaving the world a better place than we found it. And in this industry, that's not always an easy thing to do. PCC reported that digital equipment is responsible for around 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equating to 4 percent of global carbon dioxide production—that’s more than the aerospace industry!

What Type of Access Network Is the Most Sustainable?

Here’s the good news for BSPs. Fiberoptic networks consume less power, generate less heat, are less susceptible to breakdown over time, and are more sustainable than other network architectures due to the longer infrastructure lifespan. And, unlike coaxial plant copper, fiber optics are made from silicon dioxide, an abundant element found in sand, rocks, and water.

What Can You Do To Design a More Sustainable Access Network?

When you deploy a fiberoptic network powered by the Calix Network Innovation Platform (AXOS), you can incorporate future technologies into the networks you’re using today. You can also, eliminate the rip and replace strategy often required to upgrade fixed node systems and traditional chassis-based solutions, reduce power consumption and the physical space of your data center. Best of all, you, ensure your subscribers are always on, and substantially reduce your carbon footprint. AXOS can help you:
 

• Extend the lifecycle of your investment while reducing CAPEX and e-waste with Calix Intelligent Access Edge Systems. PCMag recently cited e-waste as one of the largest environmental problems in the world today.
  
  
• Improve line-card sustainability when you deploy a Calix XGS-PON card. Because Calix systems are designed with the future in mind, XGS-PON cards have twice the number of ports in the same amount of space with half the power per port compared to previous cards. Additionally, lower OLT power per PON port and increased split ratios reduce power consumption per subscriber. HBC, Inc. is converting its GPON networks of the past to XGS-PON, without a fork-lift upgrade. This leads to reduced carbon emissions and a more sustainable operation.
  
  
• Ensure the sustainability of subscriber connections even when enhancing and upgrading your network through the hardware and service abstraction layers of AXOS. From a single point in the network, the Intelligent Access EDGE solution enables BSPs to maintain all their subscriber facing services and manage their network with one common service model—while reducing network operational expenses by as much as 80 percent. The service abstraction capabilities inherent in the Calix Network Innovation Platform ensures the data model and interfaces for the services you deploy remain consistent across all access technologies, systems, and applications.
  
  
• Reduce the number of pieces of equipment needed to operate your broadband network with the E9-2 Intelligent Access Edge System. This can substantially reduce your carbon footprint in the data center. Your chief financial officer and general manager will be thrilled with the reduction in power consumption and cooling costs!
  
  
• Reduce your OPEX and your impact on the environment. GTC Broadband substantially reduced truck rolls and cut subscriber turn-up time by 70 percent with its implementation of the Network Innovation Platform (AXOS) and Calix Support Cloud. With AXOS Always-On capabilities, Calix Operations and Support Cloud monitoring, automation, self-healing, and remote diagnostics tools, you can reduce your OPEX and your impact on the environment by reducing truck rolls.

Like you, Calix is committed to sustainability across the business and sustaining the communities you serve. Stop investing in systems and platforms that are not designed for long-term scalability and sustainability and instead invest in the best software, platforms, and systems for the job—thereby reducing operational expenses, reducing your carbon footprint, and taking a step toward genuine corporate social responsibility.

Read the white paper “Drive Down Costs and Accelerate Service Innovation with Next Generation PON” to learn how you can build the last network you will ever need.