ORLANDO, Fla. – Verizon Communications has generated considerable experience in migrating from legacy copper-based infrastructure to more powerful fiber-based connections, which it shared this week during a keynote address at Genband’s Perspectives 15 event in Orlando.
Sowmyanarayan Sampath, SVP of transformation at Verizon, noted that the telecom giant has migrated seven of its switching centers to all-fiber as part of a company plan to update its network to all-IP. The move is central to its FiOS broadband offering as well as plans to migrate legacy TDM customers to IP.
In addition to being able to roll out more advanced services, Sampath said the move to fiber results in an up to 80% savings in real estate costs due to the smaller footprint of the new equipment; flow-through savings in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning costs that also attribute to more than 60% in energy savings; up to 60% in dispatch savings due to more reliable equipment that also accounts for up to 60% in maintenance savings; and a 60% gain in revenue tied to new services.
“It pays for itself,” Sampath added.
While the company has successfully handled the transition through the seven centers, Sampath noted challenges in shutting down its legacy copper network, claiming “there’s always a grandma” who wants to keep her plain old telephone system line or a firehouse that is still using a POTS line, which requires the company to maintain the copper infrastructure.
This issue recently garnered headlines as Verizon used a recent storm that impacted parts of Fire Island in New York as a jumping off point to migrate the area to all IP. The move angered some residents who did not want to give up their legacy systems citing increased cost of service tied to fiber-based services.
Sampath also shared seven lessons learned from the process, including the need to “scrub” old records ahead of a migration, something especially important for Verizon, which has some operations that have been in business for nearly 100 years; the need to get out-migration notices up to a year in advance in some cases; and the need to reconfigure workaround services to handle the new fiber world.
Genband paid for travel accommodations to the Perspectives 15 event
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