Fiber Network Management on ArcGIS - Scalable Communications solutions for evolving needs

[JuhaHaanpera]

Hello everyone,

I’m currently looking for a lightweight solution for fiber network management that would run on ArcGIS Online and/or ArcGIS Enterprise. The use case is intentionally simple; we are aiming to support basic fiber connectivity, fiber network documentation, and a straightforward asset management approach for fiber networks.

I’ve been reviewing Esri’s newer communications focused offerings and would like to better understand their suitability for this type of need: https://arcg.is/1rGTW1. In particular, I’m interested in whether the upcoming cloud-based Communications Data Management Solution could fit these requirements. In addition, I’m evaluating the next version of Communications Utility Network foundation. and the new Telecom domain datamodel.

From your experience, would either of these approaches be a good fit for lightweight fiber network management with simple connectivity and documentation needs?

I have also been following the recent updates from Remi and Melissa regarding the new Telecom Domain for Utility Network, which is expected to be released with ArcGIS Enterprise 12.1. The concept looks very promising, and I would like to understand whether it supports the kind of simple workflows described here. These blog posts provide a great overview: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/data-management/a-backstage-look-at-the-telecom... and
https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/utility-network/mapping/coming-soon-arcgis-utility-network...

Our goal is to use purely Esri technology for these lighter use cases, especially for electricity utilities and smaller network operators, so that deployment and operations remain cost-effective and agile on a single platform.

I would really appreciate your insights and experiences on how these Esri native Communications solutions are evolving and whether they already meet or soon will meet these lighter fiber network management needs. The use case is intentionally focused but expected to evolve over time: we are aiming to support fiber connectivity, fiber network documentation, and a practical asset management approach for fiber networks without introducing unnecessary complexity in the initial phase.

To provide more context, here are a few example use cases we are seeing from our customers:

One common case is an electricity utility that has built or is building a regional fiber network alongside its power grid. They need to document ducts, cables, and basic fiber connections, while keeping the system aligned with their existing GIS workflows used for electricity network management.

Another example is a multi-utility company managing electricity, district heating, and fiber networks on the same ArcGIS Enterprise platform. Their goal is to consolidate systems, reduce licensing and maintenance costs, and enable shared field workflows across different network types.

We also see municipalities or local operators that own passive fiber infrastructure. Their needs are typically focused on accurate documentation, supporting planning and construction projects, and maintaining an up-to-date asset register without requiring full telecom-grade operational systems.

Finally, some customers start with relatively simple fiber documentation needs but expect future requirements such as more advanced connectivity modeling, integration with operational systems, or supporting leasing and capacity management processes.

For larger telecom operators with more advanced fiber connectivity and operational requirements, we typically recommend partner solutions. For example, we have delivered the 3-GIS solution to our customers, and they have been very satisfied with it.

Thanks and best regards, Juha

P.s. tagging @RemiMyers, @melmayo, @HBijker, and other experts in this space for their thoughts.

[RemiMyers]

Hi @JuhaHaanpera 

Thank you for your interest in the upcoming Network Management release and the Telecom Domain capabilities.  At this time the ArcGIS Utility Network and the Telecom Domain are only exposed via Mobile or File geodatabase or via ArcGIS Enterprise in a local or cloud deployment.  To use an ArcGIS Online deployment, the only option is the data structure without supporting network topology.

If your customer is looking at modeling their physical assets such as cable and devices, then a traditional utility network with the Communications Foundation set of solutions could be your answer.  It offers a sample array of common wire and device configurations and gives you the ability to expand as needed.  

If they are more interested in mapping fiber and ports leveraging table rows instead of spatial features (nonspatial objects), then the Telecom Domain could be more appropriate.  It was designed to provide a better user experience when managing large volumes of fiber strands in cable and ports in devices.  It is important to note that we strongly recommend engaging with a partner to extend the user experience and provide a more efficient migration to production.

To answer your question, it really depends upon your customers need to provide a model of asset location or if they need to represent their fiber configuration to solve their business challanges.  Either way, I recommend attending International IMGIS for more details and discussion with ESRI and Partners to provide the best road forward for your communication solutions  (https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/events/international-imgis/overview).

[JuhaHaanpera]

Hi @RemiMyers, thank you for the clear and helpful explanation. This distinction between asset-centric and connectivity-centric approaches is very useful.
Let me add more context about the actual business needs we are seeing from our customers. Most of our customers are electricity utilities that have built fiber networks on top of their power grid infrastructure. Today they are using a traditional telecom network management system, and their expectations are quite practical but still require a certain level of fiber detail.

A key requirement is the ability to manage end-to-end fiber connectivity inside cables. This includes tracking individual fiber strands throughout the network, including how fibers are connected along the full path from origin to destination. In addition, they need to manage connectivity in cabinets and devices, such as fiber cabinets, patch panels, and ports. This also includes splice management, so that they can verify that the fiber path is continuous and intact across the entire network.

Beyond connectivity, they also expect clear reporting capabilities and ideally some form of network diagram visualization, so that both planning and operational teams can understand how the network is structured and utilized.

From a network scope perspective, these are typically regional fiber networks. Some customers also still have legacy copper networks, which would be beneficial to include in the same system, although copper is no longer actively built and is therefore not a primary requirement.

Based on your explanation, I’m trying to better understand where the boundary goes in practice. The needs I described are not telecom-operator-level in scale, but they clearly go beyond simple asset documentation. This is where I’m still evaluating whether ArcGIS Utility Network with Communications Foundation or the newer Telecom Domain would be sufficient, or whether we should guide the discussion directly towards partner solutions for these customers. I have good experience with other network domains in Utility Network, but in telecom/fiber I’m still at an earlier stage, so your guidance here is very valuable.

I will be attending the Esri IMGIS conference next week. Would you & @HBijker recommend specific Esri experts I should connect with there to see a more hands-on demo and validate the fit for these kinds of use cases? It would be great to have a focused discussion and possibly see a lightweight but realistic demo setup.

Thanks again for your insights, really appreciated.

Best regards, Juha

[RemiMyers]

Hello Juha;

I will be at IMGIS as well, and although I do not have demo of the telecom with transmission yet, I would anticipate that we can discuss and showcase the various methods that could be supported in either the traditional or the telecom domains in the utility network.  While the focus on the new telecom capabilities still wrap around fiber (and extending nonspatial object capability) you can absolutely manage a system that has fiber and copper in a telecom domain.   We look forward to more discussion this week.

Remi