Telecommunication companies worldwide are working to upgrade their Fiber-To-The-Home services, such as Proximus--Belgium's historical telecom leader--which recently began a large-scale FTTH deployment, likely the most substantial telecommunications infrastructure venture the country has seen in years. The main struggle Proximus faced while planning the nationwide FTTH rollout, is to keep control of the network quality and consistency. Despite Belgium having one of the most extensive fiber networks, it was behind in FTTH adoption and had a penetration rate of less than 1% in September 2016. In response, Proximus announced a 3 billion Euro investment to enhance FTTH brownfield deployment throughout the country, commencing in the cities of Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, Namur and Roeselare, with a goal to reach 70% of Belgium with their fiber network by 2028.

It is also necessary for Proximus to maintain firm control over the network quality and consistency, rather than deploying FTTH in the same way as copper wire in the past with field teams making numerous ad hoc decisions. To do this, Proximus needed to make a paradigm shift. In FTTH deployment, it is the engineering team who decide on the details and it is the field teams to carry out the plans exactly as designed. This means significantly more is expected from the engineering team, which was realized during the Anspach FTTH Pilot Project in Brussels.

To assist in achieving this goal, the company turned to Comsof Fiber, a tool to help design and deploy fiber networks quickly and effectively. Comsof Fiber provided the answer, as it is integrated into Proximus' agile way of working. This allows them to adjust easily to modifications and new demands, as well as take into account all the different factors that could affect network deployment. 

Proximus developed their own FTTH standard for different regions within Belgium, with principles about how to deal with field particulars, and then used Comsof Fiber to design and engineer the network. This system allowed them to define their own design rules and then generate FTTH designs based on GIS data. It also enabled them to switch to an alternative deployment scenario and model it in the software.

In conclusion, Proximus' partnership with Comsof Fiber has helped them meet their ambitious network deployment goals. The agile approach and tools of Comsof Fiber have allowed Proximus to be flexible and provide fiber network coverage to more homes and businesses in Belgium.