[February 15, 2024] - Connect Fibre, one of the UK’s prominent broadband Alternative Network providers (Altnet), has chosen Deepomatic’s cutting-edge First Time Right Automation platform to ensure the seamless execution of fibre roll-out operations and PIA documentation. By automating the control of fibre operations documentation and field engineers' work, Connect Fibre aims to expedite network roll-out while substantially reducing error-related costs such as those associated with quality control and revisits. This strategic move positions Connect Fibre as a pioneer in using AI and marks a significant milestone within Openreach's PIA framework.
Founded in 2019, Connect Fibre has been expanding its fibre optic network roll-out at pace. Currently spanning 7 regions across the country, their mantra is to provide ‘faster, fairer, flawless’ gigabit broadband to many underserved, harder-to-reach communities.
The challenge of a multipartite quality assurance process
Connect Fibre has been leveraging Openreach's Physical Infrastructure Access product to expedite deployment. Adherence to Openreach's standards involves following a strict process:
- The Altnet must not only govern its own field teams, but also the build partners to ensure they document their work with photos and forms
- It has to verify those elements to confirm that engineering rules have been respected, aligning with BT Openreach (BTOR) requirements and Connect Fibre’s own engineering requirements.
- It must submit compliance photos to BTOR for approval and potential payment.
Like most Altnets, Connect Fibre's quality control process has been a mixture of both manual and semi automation, both in the back office and on-site, presenting three key challenges:
- The verification process was time-consuming and resource intensive.
- PIA documenting photos often lacked quality or were missing, potentially leading to a high rejection rate by Openreach and penalties for Connect Fibre.
- Errors or oversights in fieldworks were detected too late, necessitating revisits.
In the end, a full compliance report could take a lengthy amount of time to be fully validated, generating delays in the network deployment. With scalability and quality in mind, Connect Fibre decided to automate its quality control process and turned to Deepomatic.
Gaining efficiency thanks to quality control automation
Deepomatic’s First Time Right Automation platform leverages computer vision, a powerful technology that analyses and interprets visual data (images, documents, videos) captured during each field operation. Connect Fibre’s field teams and build partners use the mobile app to capture photos of their work and the solution checks for conformity, guaranteeing reliability. In case of rejection, the engineers can immediately retake new photos. The platform then analyses the photos through several checkpoints and delivers instant feedback to field engineers about the quality of their work, enabling them to rectify anomalies. The photos are then centralised and accessible to quality managers, who can filter the reports flagged as non-compliant in order to review them.
Through the implementation of First Time Automation, Connect Fibre is seeking to meet 2 key strategic objectives:
- save operational costs by reducing PIA documentation quality control costs and limiting penalties
- save time by enhancing field teams’ first time right rate, to meet deployment deadlines and generate additional revenue
Dale Regan, Chief Delivery Officer & Co-Founder at Connect Fibre, expresses the significance of this partnership, stating, “Through this continually evolving collaboration with Deepomatic, we have proven that it is both possible and effective to embed automated quality assurance measures within a multiparty ecosystem, where both the Altnet and multiple build partners working on the same objective can excel in delivering a robust network. We will be looking at deploying the platform across a wider spectrum of areas within the business as we continue our mission to keep it simple and think outside of the box. ”
Augustin Marty, Chief Executive Officer at Deepomatic, added, “Wasting time and money is not a luxury that the telecommunications sector can afford. Today’s society is demanding velocity, and Connect Fibre understands that this cannot be done at the cost of quality. Deepomatic is proud to bring AI into the PIA model and help accelerate fiber roll-out in the UK”.
About Deepomatic
Deepomatic is a pioneer in the field of First Time Right Automation. Our AI-based computer vision platform is designed for companies operating critical infrastructures who strive to apply their quality standard at scale and increase their operations' First Time Right rate.
Deepomatic serves leading international clients in sectors such as telecommunications, energy, hospitality and mobility. Nearly 30,000 field workers employed by Bouygues Telecom, Swisscom, CityFibre, Vodafone, Altice, Telefónica, Circet, and Unit-T use Deepomatic's solution daily, improving their on-site productivity and efficiency.
About Connect Fibre
Founded in 2019, Connect Fibre is a community-minded full fibre network operator and broadband provider on a mission to bring fast, reliable, affordable full fibre broadband technology to the communities that need it. Priding themselves on building a high-class, quality, full fibre broadband infrastructure, their mantra is to provide 'faster, fairer, flawless' broadband to homes in the areas they serve.
