Dodging the coax infrastructure in favor of FTTH XGS-PON is a bold move. Zachary Cronauer (Head of Fiber Initiatives at Blue Ridge Communications) is explaining in this interview how they are doing it and why they are so successful.

In this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast, you will get intriguing insights into the mind of a cable operator.
Blue Ridge has an existing Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) network. This means, their end-customer are being served broadband through DOCSIS. The coax infrastructure however is limited in what it can provide in terms of bandwidth. Plus as we all know, fiber is the future!
Therefore the move towards FTTH based approach is understandable and welcomed.😉
Interestingly enough Zac and his team are going for a 1:96 split ratio leveraging XGS-PON. Zac is explaining in this episode, where the splitters are located, and how they deploy the network. He is also sharing how they made sure, that the technology migration is as smooth as possible.

Show notes and more can be found at https://fiberminded.com/episode10

Proper fiber cleaning has one of the biggest influences on optical performance. So how do use these fiber cleaners? Do I always need to clean the fiber connector end face? Is a newly bought fiber patch cord clean or not?
This and more will be discussed with Brian Teague from Senko in this episode of the Become Fiberminded Podcast.
Brian is also explaining what Senko drove to start developing these very small form factor connector systems (VSFF) like the CS and SN and what else they have in the pipeline and when we will finally see the self-cleaning connector. With these new connector systems, new challenges for the fiber technician are starting to pop up and Brian will address these as well.

Show notes and more can be found at https://fiberminded.com/episode9

Nielsen's law states that network connection speeds for high-end home users would increase 50% per year, or double every 21 months. How can the different parts of the network keep up with this trend?
In this episode of the Become Fiberminded podcast Vincent Sleiffer is discussing with us, what the latest trends and technologies in 5G, data center interconnect and other network areas are. This includes auto wavelength tuning SFPs (G.metro), which enables a cost-effective and flexible 5G deployment for the operators.
We will also cover different modulation formats with the pros and cons and also give an outlook into next-generation transceivers like the 400G ZR+ and why everyone is buzzing around this topic.
Last but not least Vincent is giving us his unique perspective on hollow-core fiber on which he did his Ph.D. thesis.

Show notes and more at https://fiberminded.com/episode8