Customer Pain Points in Broadband Network Upgrades
Author
Khanyile Merritt Dube
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Cable broadband network upgrade and future-proofing are rarely as straightforward as project plans suggest. Across the industry, a familiar set of challenges continue to slow projects down, increase budgets, and add pressure on field teams.
Cost pressures
The unit price of compatible faceplates and other upgrade components can be driven upwards by limited sourcing options. Even small increases quickly multiply across thousands of homes passed, creating significant budget strain.
Supply- and lead-time uncertainty
Global component shortages, product refresh cycles, and logistics disruptions frequently cause delivery schedules to slip. Rollouts that might seem ready on paper may be delayed by weeks waiting for critical parts, with knock on impacts to service improvements.
Legacy infrastructure
Many long-serving housings in the field remain fully functional. However, locating upgrade components that fit older designs can be challenging. In some cases, operators are forced to go down the expensive, disruptive full tap replacement route, when a faceplate change is all that is necessary.
Operational inefficiencies
Full multitap swaps happen in the absence of straightforward cable broadband network upgrade paths. This generates additional truck rolls, longer service interruptions, and increases labor costs with no extra benefit to end users.
Sustainability goals
Replacing serviceable housings contributes to unnecessary waste. This also increases carbon footprint at a time when network operators are pursuing ambitious environmental targets.
These pain points are not the result of any single supplier, but reflect the broader realities of an evolving industry. They also explain the growing interest in solutions designed to simplify upgrades, control costs, and reduce environmental impact.
Stay tuned for part 2 in this series, ‘How the XFO Range Was Designed to Address These Challenges’.
Author – Khanyile Merritt Dube, Product Line Manager
Leading Technetix’ XFO range roll out, Khanyile is a skilled market trend analyst, creatively tapping in (quite literally!) to customer needs through innovative strategies. Holding a PhD from Ulster University, Khanyile steps away from the usual thesis-level territory for her customer-first-style blog posts.
