The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on network service providers and operators across the world and the situation is no different in Europe. As video conferencing and being online from home has driven broadband requirements to new peaks, service providers and operators are rebuilding their networks to facilitate this ever-growing need for fast, accessible broadband.
At the recent FTTh (Fiber-to-the-home) Conference hosted by the FTTh Council of Europe, it was forecasted that the number of homes passed for fiber will be around 202 million. For reference, this number stood at 26.2 million in 2012, showing the exponential nature of growth that the industry is set to undergo. Countries such as Germany and the UK even showed prospects of over 500% growth in number of homes passed when comparing 2026 estimates to numbers as recent as 2019.
With the magnitude of increase forecasted to come, the EU has set up means to reduce the cost of high-speed broadband deployment. The EU maintains that 80% of the cost of deploying high speed networks is in the civil engineering works, such as digging-up of roads to lay down high speed broadband. The directive focuses on 4 main areas;
- Reuse existing infrastructure
- Efficient coordination of civil works
- Faster and simpler granting procedures
- New buildings connected to hi-speed physical infrastructure
IMMCO Inc’s network solutions are perfectly poised to fit in with the EU’s directive, as unlocking efficiencies in network environments and reducing project timelines are an integral part of our wheelhouse. From the inception of a project at the land base creation phase, up until the as-built construction updates and changes, IMMCO helps facilitate every step of the way. In our most recent project in Europe, we had completed FTTH and HFC (Hybrid Fiber CoAx) for over 225,000 homes in Ireland, while upgrading over 75,000 homes to the 1.2 GHz RF Network. Starting from digitizing land base inputs until the end of the network design phase, we handled this network upgrade for a major telecom player in Ireland.
To augment our network services, we’ve also developed a proprietary collaboration software, called iBISS®, that connects network design teams in the office to field walkout and construction teams in the field. This helps reduce project timelines drastically, by allowing the network teams to see updates in the field in real-time, allowing In-Field Design Variations and As-Builts to be handled with ease. The single source of truth for data also avoids confusion in terms of reporting changes and keeps everyone from the site engineers to the project managers and executives on the same page.
As a final addition to our services and software combination, we’ve also recently started a Center of Excellence devoted to integrating automation and AI/ML into our processes and solutions. As network rollout projects often follow the same set of rules and steps, supervised machine learning is an ideal way to speed up processes without compromising on quality, allowing your team to use their time as efficiently as possible.
As our international footprint continues to grow, we’re looking to bring our network solutions to Europe in a much broader way, helping companies at any stage of their network deployment projects.
About the Author
Pictured: Marc Hollander, SVP - Business Development (Europe)
Marc Hollander is a Senior Vice President at IMMCO Inc, handling Sales and Business Development
in the European Region. He brings with him over two decades of experience in the Telecom and Construction industries, with an expertise in market insights, project management, and a strong
grasp of technology and its value proposition to customers through effective solutions.
To get in touch with Marc, email him at MHollander@immcoinc.com!