Enabling smarter, scalable networks for Carriers and Service Providers (CSPs)

Axians supports customers through large-scale fiber deployment projects, rollout coordination, and infrastructure planning across complex environments. As National Production Manager at Axians Switzerland, Ulrich Spiess oversees operations related to fiber network construction and rollout activities across Switzerland. 

In this interview, Spiess shares his perspective on operational efficiency, planning accuracy, AI-driven systems, and the future of network infrastructure deployment.

  

What are the main challenges operators face in maintaining visibility and control across increasingly complex network infrastructures? 

One of the biggest challenges for operators today is maintaining accurate planning visibility while delivering a seamless customer experience. 

Customers increasingly expect precise information about service availability, delivery timelines, and installation schedules. In fiber deployment projects, this creates significant pressure on planning accuracy. 

Physical infrastructure deployment remains inherently complex and subject to external constraints such as construction delays, local regulations, and coordination issues. As infrastructures become larger and more interconnected, operators need increasingly accurate planning systems and stronger real-time coordination across the deployment lifecycle. 

 

When planning network projects in complex environments, what are the key factors to ensure efficiency, scalability, and long-term performance? 

One of the most important factors is close cooperation between deployment teams and the customer. Every operator has its own systems, processes, and operational structure, meaning there is no universal approach to network planning. 

Axians Switzerland has developed efficient processes through long-term collaboration with its customers, with a strong focus on automation and AI-driven operational support. 

For example, AI-based quality control systems can now analyze fieldwork in real time. Technicians upload photos directly from installation sites, and intelligent systems immediately verify whether the work meets quality standards. This reduces manual inspections, minimizes return visits, and improves overall deployment quality. 

At the same time, fiber deployment remains heavily dependent on local construction constraints, permitting requirements, and municipality-specific regulations, making large-scale standardization difficult. 

As a result, long-term efficiency depends not only on technology, but also on operational adaptability and strong coordination between all stakeholders involved in deployment. 

 

Looking ahead, how will network planning evolve as infrastructures become more distributed, dynamic, and data-driven? 

Artificial intelligence will play a major role in the future of network planning. 

Operators are already developing systems capable of automatically analyzing network capacity, identifying optimal connection points, and generating preliminary infrastructure designs with minimal manual intervention. 

In the past, deployment teams typically received fully designed network plans from engineering departments. Increasingly, however, AI-driven systems are generating these designs automatically, leaving teams to validate and refine them based on field realities. 

This shift will accelerate planning processes and improve responsiveness as networks become more distributed and dynamic. 

The future of network planning will depend heavily on intelligent systems capable of processing operational and infrastructure data in real time, helping operators manage growing network complexity while maintaining efficiency and scalability.