Roll-out of national fibre optic network by TenneT.

TenneT manages the Dutch high-voltage network, which consists of a large number of transport connections between high-voltage substations. The transport and equipment at the substations must be remotely managed. Additionally, communication between the substations is necessary for security systems, which can quickly switch off the power from the line when a technical issue arises. To meet this need, around 2010, TenneT started the implementation of a national fibreoptic network between all high-voltage substations (AMFI). Dialogic supported TenneT during the design and procurement phase of this project. Due to the network covering the entirety of the Netherlands, there is a wide variety of fibre optic connection offerings in the market. Utilising regional or even local offerings can be significantly more cost-effective than tendering the entire network with a national provider. Selecting individual offers is complex, as different connections must not physically converge - as this would create a 'single point of failure' for the highly reliable network. Given substantial regional and local diversity in technical specifications, pricing, and location of offerings, there are innumerable potential combinations. In essence, the process works as follows: ideally, the most cost-effective offer is selected for each segment. However, this selection will likely involve some points where connections cross (thus creating single points of failure). Each occurrence can be resolved by replacing one connection with the next cheapest alternative for that segment. Each replacement significantly increases the number of selections to be evaluated. Moreover, substituting a segment may introduce a conflict with another connection. Hence, mathematically, identifying the most optimal selection is very challenging. Dialogic has developed innovative tools to compute the full market offerings using a sophisticated algorithm, thereby enabling an optimal decision. The algorithm efficiently navigates through the expanding 'tree' of possibilities to arrive at the most optimal solution within a reasonable timeframe. For the most complex fibre optic ring, the algorithm required several hours of computation, considering theoretically countless combinations. Compared to nationwide tendering, these methods have yielded savings of tens of millions. Dialogic holds extensive experience in broadband and telecoms, blending technical expertise with market knowledge and strategy. For various sub-problems such as estimating last-mile implementation costs and determining geographic separation of connections, Dialogic possesses diverse tools. The procurement method, which can also be applied to various other types of tenders with interdependencies, integrates these tools with expert advice.