For metropolitan network operators, the cost of fiber infrastructure often outweighs the cost of the active hardware itself. In high-density urban environments, leasing additional dark fiber can cost upwards of $2,000 per mile annually. This financial reality has driven the industry toward the 100G BIDI QSFP28 10km—a solution designed to maximize existing glass assets by collapsing 100Gbps traffic into a single fiber strand.

CapEx vs. OpEx: The Bidirectional Advantage

When migrating from 10G to 100G, the QSFP28 100G BIDI 10km offers an immediate reduction in Operating Expenses (OpEx). Traditional 100G LR4 modules require two fibers per link. In a typical aggregation hub with 48 links, this requires 96 fiber strands. By switching to BIDI, that same 4.8Tbps of capacity is carried over 48 strands, freeing up the remaining fibers for new revenue-generating services or redundancy.

Case Study: 8K Video Aggregation in Urban Hubs

In a recent Univiso deployment for a regional broadcaster, the challenge was to backhaul eight uncompressed 8K camera feeds from a remote studio to the MCR (Master Control Room) over an 8.2km fiber span. Utilizing the 100G BIDI 10km BX10-U/D pairing allowed the team to utilize a single pre-existing fiber bundle without the need for additional civil engineering. The use of PAM4 modulation ensured that signal-to-noise ratios remained stable even through multiple patch transitions.

Infrastructure Reliability: Maintaining the Link

Unlike short-reach multimode links, the QSFP28 100G BIDI 10km is built for the "dirty" reality of metropolitan fiber. With a link budget of 6.3dB, it can withstand the attenuation caused by aged G.652 single-mode fiber and typical connector wear. When integrated with Univiso’s diagnostic platform, real-time DOM (Digital Optical Monitoring) allows engineers to predict link failure before Bit Error Rates (BER) impact the broadcast.