The problem is being able to light the fiber quickly enough and then provision the capacity in the right places as traffic needs grow and shift around the network. That's why intense customer demand is a double-edged sword. Qwest Communications International Inc. Unfortunately, Internet traffic doubles every three to six months while the capacity ceiling on new equipment has been doubling roughly every nine months. And unlike their networks, optic installation technicians don't move at the speed of light. But then you have to realize that much of that fiber is still dark because the optical equipment to light it isn't in the field yet.
Carriers are in agreement that provisioning time needs to be cut from months to minutes.
The obvious answer is to automate provisioning and remove many of the manual steps that slow down the process of turning up new service, but that is hard to accomplish in existing networks. Our first challenge is to be able to provision, period. Ring topology relies heavily on redundant equipment, and at least half of the fiber capacity is used for restoration and protection in case of a fiber cut or some other service interruption. A meshed architecture can be arranged into logical pathways that allow for fast routing changes in the case of a fault. This cuts down on the need for redundant equipment and fiber, and it also opens up the possibility for reprovisioning circuits to provide for fluctuations in capacity requirements.