By Ivan Bogdanovic, Rogers Communications Inc.; Giancarlo Urbani, Rogers Communications Inc.; Jordan Tontini, Rogers Communications Inc.; Alex Talinga, Rogers Communications Inc.
This paper introduces the concept of Unified Access Transport (UAT), a common access optical transport network for Residential, Business and Wireless services at Rogers Communications. The paper not only presents UAT but also puts forth recommendations for its effective deployment. Unified Access Transport is a key enabler to Rogers Communications’ network modernization and expansion programs. UAT enables core consolidation, Hybrid Fiber-coaxial (HFC) and 5G modernization, as well as Wireless and Wireline service expansions into underserved areas. Within the subsequent sections of this paper, design considerations for urban and rural deployments are explored with a primary emphasis on bolstering network resiliency and scalability. Network enhancements such as automated optical protection switching to minimize customer impact, and automated Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) to reduce Mean Time-to-Repair (MTTR) are examined. Network deployment accelerators such as Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) over existing passive multiplexers and optical disaggregation are also discussed. This paper provides insight into lessons learned from deployments to date and previews what’s next for UAT.