Historically, copper telecom networks in the rural parts of Finland have been deployed above ground using existing electricity network poles. But now, the power operator is running a large-scale project to move its network below ground, forcing telecom operator Telia to migrate its own network at the same time. Lasse Vesanen and his team of planners at Telia use Comsof Fiber to find the best solution for their customers.

How did you learn about Comsof Fiber?

We were introduced to Comsof Fiber through Keypro, the supplier of our network information management system KeyCom. They suggested that by using Comsof Fiber we could significantly improve our cost calculation process.

What were the specific challenges your organization faced in FTTx planning and design?

Our main challenge is that we consistently must act really fast. When the electricity operator decides to proceed with moving its network underground in an area, we need to figure out how we are going to migrate our customers, whether it’s to mobile or to fiber below ground. So we need to estimate accurately the cost of FTTH deployment, which can vary a lot from area to area. Trenching costs are the most important factor. Note also that after the electricity network move, trenching will be banned for a long period of time, so we have to be pretty sure we’re making the right decision.

How did Comsof Fiber help to address this challenge?

Comsof Fiber significantly accelerated our work, giving us more accurate and reliable results. And it also means greater uniformity among our planners, because they all use the same design rules. In addition, we can quickly assess the feasibility of alternative scenarios, such as a mix of mobile and fiber in certain areas. These insights allow us to find the best solution for both our customers and Telia.

How would you quantify the potential business impact of using Comsof Fiber?

It’s huge, considering that we used to hire subcontractors to manually calculate the costings for us. Just one of these calculations took them two days on average, but now we can do this ourselves in a couple of hours. And just as important: it gives us confidence that we’re always making the right decisions.

“Comsof Fiber enables us to quickly assess the feasibility of alternative scenarios such as a mix of mobile and fiber in certain areas” 

- Lasse Vesanen, Department Manager Access Planning at Telia, Finland