By akademiotoelektronik, 15/03/2023

What connects us to the Internet or on the landline?Diving in the heart of the network in Caen

"Happiness is simple as a phone call."The France Telecom pub in the 1990s is a bit of date but is still relevant.Every day, we use the landline and internet phone.But do we ask ourselves how it is all organized?To find out, Orange, French telecommunications company, opened its doors to us a few days ago.Dive into the heart of one of its distributors, in Caen.

Right next to Orange Labs, rue des Coutures, in Caen, in an ultra-secure sector, stands a long white building.This is where the whole technique of telephone and internet communication from Orange nestles.In a very large room, invaded by a deaf and continuous noise, we discover a "wall" with a multitude of beige contains connected to an ocean of threads.All riveted to a high metallic structure: "We are in one of our four telephone distributors for the city of Caen", specifies Alexandre Guérard, technician with the intervention unit in Caen.

On the left of this "wall", the Service Strikes."When you call you from home via a landline phone, everything starts from there.This distributor allows you to connect 20,000 customers in the Venoix district.And there are two copper sons per subscriber, ”adds the technician.Right, right next to it, those that "allow access to the Internet via ADSL technology".These Internet services are then connected to a cable head in order to transport the ADSL signal via the telephone line.

And to know what a cable head looks like, just go to the back of this huge metal structure.We see large paintings with blue and orange buttons (cable heads) well aligned and where "each subscriber to a precise position".

The path of fiber optic

This historic network carries, thanks to copper wires, an electrical signal: "One of the problems that this poses is that the electron tires for the copper cable and it must be re -alumors to rebooster it.But the equipment that would allow you to rebooster prevents the Internet signal, "explains Marc Maouche, regional delegate Orange Normandie.Concerns that we do not encounter with optical fiber: this consists of very fine glass wires allowing to drive the light and to transmit digital data.

The copper threads land in the basement of the distributor, in a large barely lit cellar where the cable heads seen on the ground floor are extended by large black cables to reach what is called a infra-partner,"With connections every 300 meters to the subscriber".

The cables then rush under the building in PVC ducts to come out in different underground rooms arranged in the neighborhood: "They then leave in cabinets arranged in the streets of Venoix and where we will be able to feed each subscribervia boxes placed on buildings or houses, ”explains Jean-Marc Corgnet, technician in Caen.

What about optical fiber?The visit continues in the same building.But in a much smaller room, with a fiber optic also more menu.And for good reason: “At the start of this distributor, with a single fiber, we can supply 64 customers.And in the long term, it can supply up to 40,000 subscribers by welcoming copper network as and when.»»

To go to customers, the fiber optic network also goes through sheaths and underground rooms "up to external cabinets called no pooling and in which each internet supplier connects to then transport the fiber to the fiber at the fiber at the fiber at the fiberhis client. Et c’est à partir de cette armoire qu’il y a désormais une seule fibre par client»».

"Happiness is simple as a phone call»», mais dans les coulisses, c’est une grosse usine à gaz !

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