DSL still remains the most widely deployed broadband access technology across the globe to bring triple-play services to business and residential customers. For many, the copper plant is the only economical basis for broadband, high-value service delivery that is still competitive.

Challenges

The recent explosion of over-the-top (OTT) services as well as the rising demand for faster, higher-quality video content is pushing operators to make to most out of their existing legacy infrastructure. Yet, increasing the available speed of the xDSL services running over the copper last mile also brings a few challenges such as:

• Reducing OPEX to keep a competitive edge, even with aging copper access networks that have increasing maintenance costs to deliver new-generation services
• Network performance greatly varies depending on the variety of DSL, the infrastructure available, as well as the cable quality and length 
• Technicians with less technical experience and skills in a context of constant growth in technology complexity
• Growing variety of in-home technologies used to transport voice, data and video

Solutions

To meet guaranteed service levels and customer expectations, especially for multiplay services, DSL requires thorough qualification and verification before, during and after the service has been delivered to the customer.

So what should operators expect from a growing leader of copper/xDSL test solution provider? 

• Intelligent test equipment that improve the effectiveness of technicians increasing installation rates and reducing the cost per-subscriber for repairs
• Devices that clearly notify of potential faults before the service is down and that provide the optimal time and most effective way to repair
• Solutions that interpret the results, eliminating the risk of misinterpretation and improving the global test time while ensuring full repeatability

EXFO offers trusted copper last-mile test solutions that directly answer these requirements. Combining the perfect mix of intelligence, automation and field-oriented designs, network operators can now ensure that the copper plant supports quality delivery of voice, data and TV services to its subscribers, while meeting imperative time-to-market, QoS and QoE objectives.