Text: Huang Haifeng's correspondence life.
Based on the advantages of large communication capacity, low loss, long transmission distance, and strong anti-electromagnetic interference ability, optical broadband network has become an important field for major operators to compete for layout.
In China, the three major operators are actively enhancing the competitiveness of fiber broadband. China Mobile has built the world's largest GPON 10G PON optical access network, China Telecom's optical network has covered 345 cities across the country, and China Unicom's fiber-to-the-home has covered 4500 million households.
In foreign countries, operators in various countries are also making efforts in the fiber broadband market. Among them, the Brazilian operator Algar has made remarkable achievements in the development of fiber broadband business. According to the company's financial report, Algar broadband services accounted for 40% of total revenue at the end of the fourth quarter9%, fiber access revenue accounted for 983%。The total number of Algar fibre broadband subscribers reached 7730,000, an increase of 690,000, with an increase of 11 in home users4%, and enterprise users increased by 64%。
What is Algar's strategic layout in the development of optical broadband networks, and what are the latest progresses?What are some lessons to be learned?
Jean Carlos Borges, CEO of Algar Telecom, recently visited Winwin and gave us a wonderful explanation of these topics.
Early layout and heavy service have created the advantages of fiber broadband
The Brazilian telecommunications market is highly competitive, with more than 10,000 ISPs (network service providers) in addition to traditional carriers such as CLARO, VIVO, TIM, OI, etc. With so many competitors, why does Algar stand out in the fiber broadband market?
In this regard, Jean Carlos Borges shared the secret of Algar's success, which is to deploy early and focus on services in the field of fiber broadband.
First of all, Algar has an early layout in the fiber broadband market. This year marks Algar's 70th anniversary. This also means that Algar has extensive experience in the Brazilian communications market.
According to Jean Carlos Borges, Algar began building a fibre optic network back in 2005. Notably, Algar has established a specific premium network design from the outset to meet the needs of both TOB and TOC customers.
Currently, Algar has served clients in more than 400 cities in 16 Brazilian states, including Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. In the future, Algar will expand its optical broadband network to serve more customers.
Second, Algar focuses on services when developing optical broadband networks. In Algar's view, optical broadband networks are a necessity in the digital age. But the network alone is not enough to help Algar win customers, it also needs to be better able to serve customers. To this end, Algar has improved its fibre broadband service capabilities in two ways.
On the one hand, Algar provides high-quality network connectivity. For example, Algar has built the FTTH network, enabling 50% of its customers** to exceed 600 Mbps and providing 1 Gbps services to subscribers, with plans to offer 2 Gbps in the future.
Algar, on the other hand, is a blend of connection and content. Algar is an integrated service provider in the communications, data and IT sectors, with extensive experience serving ToB and ToC clients. For example, in the TOB market, Algar sells IT products, IT services, and connectivity in a converged manner. According to Jean Carlos Borges, this one-stop solution has been well received by customers.
How to achieve both 5G and fiber broadband development?
At present, 5G networks are becoming the key to the competition of operators. According to the latest data from GSA, as of the end of the first quarter of 2023, 524 operators in 156 countries and regions around the world have invested in 5G, and 249 operators in 97 countries and regions have officially launched or trial-operated at least one 5G commercial service that meets the 3GPP standard.
Algar obtained a 5G licence in 2021 and has been rolling out 5G services gradually. How does Algar find the right balance between fibre broadband and 5G development?Jean Carlos Borges said that the synergy between fiber broadband and wireless networks did not start in the 5G era, as early as seven years ago, when Algar was developing 3G and 4G networks, it was exploring the coordinated development path of fiber broadband and wireless networks.
For example, in the retail market, Algar sells fibre broadband, mobile services and content to meet all the needs of its subscribers. In Jean Carlos Borges, about 60 to 70 percent of households using Algar broadband products and services will also choose Algar's mobile products and services.
How does Algar allow users to choose both fibre broadband and mobile services?Jean Carlos Borges further explains that Algar combines fibre broadband, fixed connectivity, and mobile connectivity into convergence**. This makes it more valuable for users to subscribe to convergence** and better meet their and their home network needs.
Build a solid foundation for fiber broadband services
The importance of optical broadband networks is self-evident. Operators are also increasing their optical broadband networks. Why is Algar able to build a high-performance optical broadband network?
Those who fake horses are not profitable, but thousands of miles;Those who fake the boat are not able to water, but the rivers. Algar chose a reliable partner when it came to building its network infrastructure. According to Jean Carlos Borges, Algar is the first telecom operator in Brazil to purchase both Huawei's wired and wireless solutions.
As early as 1998, Algar purchased Huawei CC08 switches. The switch has also demonstrated excellent performance in the Algar fixed-line business. In 2004, Jean Carlos Borges personally went to China to meet with the Huawei team face-to-face, hoping that Huawei would help Algar deploy its first mobile network.
In the construction of the first mobile network, Huawei helped Algar launch mobile network services at the fastest speed. In this regard, Jean Carlos Borges looks back on the construction of the first mobile network.
At that time, Algar purchased GSM technology from Huawei and deployed the GSM solution within three months. Jean Carlos Borges vividly remembers that in October 2004, the first plane carrying Huawei's wireless network equipment landed at Campinas Airport in Viracopos. At Christmas, Algar started running the GSM solution.
Jean Carlos Borges also said that in the future, Algar and Huawei will have more cooperation projects in the field of fiber broadband and 5G, and will continue to expand the partnership with Huawei. "Algar has grown a lot from the beginning of our cooperation to today, and Huawei has been our partner from the very beginning. Jean Carlos Borges said: "I hope that this partnership will be even stronger in the coming years. ”
The author's observation: only by building a solid network foundation can we win the market
With the development of 400G and other optical broadband network technologies, optical broadband networks will become the key for operators to win the competition in services such as whole-home intelligence and industrial digitalization. At the same time, the quality of optical broadband network service will also become a key capability for operators to win users.
From Algar's success in the fiber broadband market, it is not difficult to find that early layout, service-oriented, and innovative are the keys to its success. Behind all this, Algar is inseparable from the performance-leading broadband network.
If Algar's continuous innovation in business model and continuous improvement in service capabilities are the pillars of its success in the optical broadband business, then the high-performance optical broadband network is the solid foundation that supports these pillars.
How can operators win the competition for fiber broadband services?Actively cooperate with equipment and solution providers like Huawei to build optical broadband networks with leading technologies, bring differentiated and high-quality experiences to customers, achieve high-quality development of optical fiber broadband services, and ultimately win the optical fiber broadband market.