Part 1: Deploying Next Generation Access: challenges and opportunities

2) Extent of fibre reach. There are two main categories.

L Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in which fibre extends from the core network to the
premises, has no theoretical limit in terms of speeds but is generally talked
about in terms of 100 Mb/s.
L Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), in which fibre connections only reach street
cabinets and copper provides the connection from the street cabinet to the
home. Such connections can deliver around 24-50 Mb/s, and are significantly
cheaper to install than FTTH. FTTC could in some circumstances be a first
step towards an eventual FTTH rollout. FTTC allows for unbundling at the
cabinet (i.e. competition based on different operators having access to the
passive part of the network, in this case the final copper connection).

3) Network configuration and design. FTTH networks have two main types
of configuration:
L point-to-point (P2P), in which a single dedicated fibre runs from each home
to the exchange; and
L Passive Optical Network (PON, the most common variant of which is GPON)
in which bandwidth is shared between users in a series of thinning pipes, and
directed via optical splitters.

Broadly speaking, the costs of these different FTTH architectures are comparable,
but point-to-point is considered around 15% more expensive than PON. FTTH/
P2P can often provide for unbundling at the exchange, while technical trials
for unbundling of GPON have been reported but have yet to be commercially
deployed in scale.

Figure 1 Access Network designs

Access network Core network

Today’s access network

Copper
Copper local loop
based
access

Street cabinet Local exchange Metro Node Core Network

Next generation network

Fibre to Copper Fibre
the cabinet sub-loop

Street cabinet Local exchange Metro Node Core Network

Fibre to
the home Fibre

Splitter Local exchange Metro Node Core Network

Source: Ofcom

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