By Paul D. Brooks, Time Warner Cable
Delivery of network powered Iifeline telephony service over existing HFC plant requires deployment of an infrastructure capable of providing reliable power to both system actives and telephony equipment.
This power must be available on a continuous basis during both momentary and extended utility outages. The need for continuous power requires deployment of alternate power sources. The economics of continuous power point to changes in the way power is distributed, The increased loads imposed by telephony equipment require commiserate increases in installed capacity.
These facts cause powering system enhancement to be the largest new plant cost item required in connection with telephony service. Because a certain amount of this new powering infrastructure must be in place before the first telephone customer is turned up, much of this cost is fixed.
The challenge before us is to deploy the lowest cost powering infrastructure which will meet the immediate needs of service launch, and to develop a plan to incrementally increase power capacity as the business grows. This paper will suggest network design techniques which address this incremental deployment.