Representative case
FTTH materials for 30,000 homes in East Africa, in four lots
An ISP moving from fixed wireless to fiber bought every passive item for two cities from one supplier, lot by lot to its rollout plan, at prices fixed for three lots.
- Homes passed
- ≈ 30,000, phase 1
- Split
- 1:64, two stages of 1×8
- Cable
- ≈ 410 km duct and ADSS
- Delivery
- 4 lots over 9 months
The starting point
Where they started
- Customer
- A regional internet provider moving business customers and new housing estates from fixed wireless to GPON fiber.
- Where
- East Africa
- Before
- A network design from a local consultant, a tender bill of materials with 46 line items, and quotes from three traders that left out test reports and lead times.
Requirements
What they needed
- G.652.D fiber for feeder and distribution cable, G.657.A2 for drops
- Aerial ADSS on existing poles with 80–120 m spans, and duct cable in the city centres
- Pre-connectorised drops, so installers connect a home in under an hour
- Deliveries matched to the rollout plan, at prices that do not move between lots
- A test report for every reel and every connectorised assembly
What we supplied
Equipment, by stage
-
Connect
Cable
- Duct cable, 96 and 144 fibers, G.652.D
- ADSS cable, 24 and 48 fibers, for spans up to 120 m
- ≈ 410 km in total, cut to drum lengths from the route plan
-
Connect
Splitting and closures
- ≈ 470 primary 1×8 PLC splitters for the street cabinets
- ≈ 3,750 fiber access terminals, each with a 1×8 splitter
- ≈ 520 dome and inline splice closures
-
Connect
Drops and tools
- ≈ 9,000 pre-connectorised G.657.A2 drops in 50, 80 and 100 m
- Wall boxes and SC/APC patch cords
- Fusion splicers, OTDRs and cleaning kits for the installer teams
Acceptance
How it was proven
- OTDR test of every reel at 1310 and 1550 nm, against ≤ 0.36 and ≤ 0.22 dB/km
- Insertion loss and uniformity report for every splitter; insertion and return loss for every drop
- Pre-shipment inspection of each lot by ZeroLine QC, with photos; third-party inspection offered at the buyer’s cost
Results
What it achieved
- Homes passed, phase 1
- ≈ 30,000 in two cities
- Lots delivered
- 4 of 4 inside the rollout window
- Drops rejected at installation
- 0.6 %
- Downstream loss, sampled links
- Average 23.4 dB, inside the 28 dB class B+ budget
- Price
- Fixed for lots 1–3 under a framework agreement
Schedule
From contract to running
- 01
BOM check
46 tender lines checked against the design; connector types and drop lengths corrected before quoting.
Weeks 1–2
- 02
Framework agreement
Prices fixed for lots 1–3; lot 4 indexed to the fiber price on the day of order.
Week 3
- 03
Lot 1
Made, tested and shipped in five weeks; about four weeks by sea and on to the customer’s warehouse.
Weeks 4–12
- 04
Lots 2–4
Called off every 8–10 weeks against the rollout plan, labelled by city, cabinet and route.
Months 3–9
Who did what
One contract, several factories
ZeroLine
- Found SC/UPC connectors on drops meant for SC/APC terminals in the tender, and corrected them before production
- Brought five Optics Valley factories into one BOM, one contract and one shipment per lot
- Fixed prices for three lots in a rising fiber market
- Labelled every drum and carton by city, cabinet and route for the installers
- Pre-export conformity certificates where the destination requires them
The factories
- Cable, splitters, closures, drops and tools came from five factories in Optics Valley
- Each factory tested its own products; ZeroLine QC checked every lot before it left
Check the connector polish on every line of the BOM. One wrong letter, UPC for APC, would have meant 9,000 drops that do not fit.
Behind this project
The solution and services it used
- Telecom and FTTx networks Fiber cable, ODN and FTTH materials for operators, ISPs and contractors.
- Sourcing and factory audit The right factory for your job, audited on site and compared like for like.
- Factory acceptance and inspection Nothing ships before it has run. You watch the test, then you pay.
- Shipping and compliance Export documents, crating, one consolidated shipment, and the papers your market needs.
- Payment terms and trade finance Letters of credit, payment after acceptance, and insured deferred terms.
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