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16
magazine
Broadband
Businesses, governments and
consumers everywhere are demanding
faster internet access. So why aren’t
operators offering the high-speed,
future-proof fibre networks that make
this possible and why do they persist
in upgrading copper networks?
From the operators’ point of view,
continuing to invest in copper may seem
logical. They have a vested interest in
harnessing local loop copper ADSL, as
connections continue to provide them
with a fixed monthly revenue, while
replacing them would require costly
planning, digging, building, testing and
maintenance. Ensuring copper stays
in place allows operators to control
unbundling and, therefore, competition.
Furthermore, shareholders expect a faster
return than fibre investments can provide.
However, these are all short-term
arguments. To keep up with today’s
demands, copper networks require
costly upgrades, such as Dslam cabinets
for advanced multiplexing and high
operating expenditures for power, service
etc.. The reality is that this technology
is already outdated and can hardly meet
the Next Generation Access specifications
of today, let alone tomorrow.
Copper may be keeping shareholders
happy – for the time being – but the
long-term gains of fibre are significantly
greater. Recent research has indicated
that the actual cost of rolling out fibre is
significantly lower than earlier estimates.
In addition, alternative financing models,
such as Public-Private Partnerships and
municipality projects, offer significant
possibilities for realising roll-outs without
traditional shareholder involvement.
The costs of fibre may seem
prohibitive at first. But the only way to
get a really clear picture of the overall
cost is by making a solid business case.
This should compare the year-on-year
expense of copper upgrade over a decade
with an FTTH investment based on a
ten-year business case. In Germany, for
example, total operators investments
from 1998-2008 amounted to 82.7
billion euro, including wireless, 3G and
fixed upgrades. An investment of this
magnitude could have laid the basis for
a fibre network – the only alternative
that can guarantee support for future
bandwidth requirements.
It is true that the capacity of today’s
copper networks far exceeds that of
earlier generations, but speeds are still
insufficient to keep up with demand
when all users want the fastest possible
performance at the same time.When it
comes to transmitting high-bandwidth
data such as video content over long
distances, there is no competition. Data
loss in fibre is exceptionally low and
there’s no electrical crosstalk between
the (passive) cables.
In addition, more and more
applications, such as cloud computing,
require symmetry of bandwidth, which
is an integral property of fibre. Copper
networks just can’t upload and download
at the same high speed and quality and
this poses a real threat to the roll-out of
healthcare and education services which
tomorrow’s society simply must have in
order to maintain standards of living for a
longer-living population.
Fibre has higher data capacity; is more
resistant to pulling; impossible to tap into
without causing noticeable attenuation;
takes up less space; and, although the
associated electronics are initially costly,
is far cheaper than copper. There’s no
reason to postpone the inevitable.
Hartwig Tauber is Director General of
the FTTH Council Europe, an industry
organisation with a mission to accelerate
the availability of fibre-based, ultra-high-
speed access networks.
www.ftthcouncil.eu
Hartwig Tauber explains why it’s time
to say ‘goodbye’ to copper and welcome
fibre-based broadband
Why copper has
had its day
In the news…
From the
operators’
point of view,
continuing
to invest in
copper may
seem logical.
Broadband communications and
energy costs top the list of small
firms’ infrastructure gripes, according
to a new survey by the Forum of
Private Business. Four out of five
Forum members who responded
to the organisation’s Referendum
survey on
Infrastructure for Growth
stated that access to effective
telecommunications, including
broadband, was a major infrastructure
issue for small businesses.
No UK city features in the Top 100
global cities for average connection
speed, according to Akamai
Technologies’
Fourth Quarter 2011
State of the Internet
report. The UK
as a whole is ranked 16th in Europe
based on average measured connection
speeds (4.9Mbps) and 14th for average
peak connection speeds (20.4Mbps).
With 91% of UK broadband
connections measured above 2MBps,
the UK comes 7th in the ranking of
Fast European Countries.
BT has announced that its wholesale
fibre broadband service is now
available to ten million premises across
the UK – more than six months ahead
of schedule. BT is investing £2.5 billion
to make fibre broadband with speeds
of up to 80Mbps available to around
two thirds of UK premises by the end
of 2014. Currently, more than half a
million customers are using BT’s fibre
service, with more than 60 ISPs trialling
or offering services. From the Spring
of 2013, BT plans to make fibre-to-
the-premises broadband available on
demand in all fibre-enabled areas,
giving speeds of 300Mbps or more.
The CLA has greeted the news that
Virgin Media is ahead of schedule in
its roll-out of superfast broadband to
13 million UK homes by pointing out
that this only benefits urban areas that
already have a good broadband service.
Dr Charles Trotman, CLA Head of Rural
Development, said: “Rural areas are still
losing out in the broadband provider
war. Virgin Media’s latest roll-out
ignores homes and businesses in the
countryside to give areas that already
have good broadband even faster
connections.” The CLA is calling on the
Government to make sure every rural
business and household has access to
a broadband connection of at least
5 Mbps. The Government’s existing
target is a universal service coverage of
2 Mbps by 2015, a speed it considers
sufficient for ‘reasonable quality home
working’.
Hartwig Tauber, Director General,
FTTH Council Europe