When broadband capital spending rises to accommodate greater demand, that’s rarely the end of the story. Investments in the horsepower needed for optimal, two-way subscriber experiences most often create a need for more sophisticated network management tools that can stay ahead of network impairments and capacity constraints.
So when we saw Dell’Oro Group’s recent prediction of an anticipated 20 percent rise in cable outside plant equipment spend as operators deploy DOCSIS 4.0, we knew that there is more news to come. For operators to make the most of their capital outlays, what follows must be for slow, manual, reactive processes to be supplanted by proactive, fast, integrated, AI/ML-powered solutions.
Deployment of additional spectrum, ESD/FDX, new waves of 1.8 GHz amplifiers and the adoption of Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) inevitably will generate more telemetry than legacy systems can manage. The shift from DOCSIS 3.1 to DOCSIS 4.0 creates more channels, more carriers, more service groups, and more activity – all of which need to be managed in real time if the new advanced technology is to live up to its promise. Instead of periodic tuning, operations teams have no choice but to continuously optimize the profiles of thousands of OFDM/OFDMA channels across the entire network footprint.
To maximize return on their planned infrastructure investments, operators need to leverage innovative, integrated systems that combine two key capabilities to maximize subscriber Quality of Experience (QoE):
- Profile Management Application (PMA) that continuously monitors changing RF plant conditions and works around impairments by dynamically creating per-subcarrier modulation profiles optimized for each OFDM/OFDMA channel; and
- Turbocharged Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) that speeds detection and remediation of impairments, often before subscribers notice, outages are caused, or unnecessary truck rolls or technician visits are required.
In today’s fast-moving broadband environment, there is no room for manual systems and multiple platforms that slow diagnostics and remediation. Unifying PNM and PMA into a single AI-powered platform – with a single interface and common pollers – can eliminate obstacles to performance, reduce costs, and boost subscriber satisfaction and ROI.
In early trials and deployments of its Vantage™ platform, OpenVault has helped the industry understand the benefits of this next-generation approach. The Vantage combination of OV PNM, OV Advanced PMA™ tools and single pane of glass management provide RF to IP visibility across the entire network, resulting in:
- 57% fewer truck rolls;
- 42% decline in call center volume;
- 40% more DOCSIS capacity; and
- 50% reduction in node splits.
As the industry makes upcoming investments in full deployment of DOCSIS 4.0, the ability of network management tools to generate real and measurable results will be essential to their success. Operators who integrate PMA and PNM as one foundational capability will be best positioned to realize the full value of their network investment as complexity continues to increase.