Next Gen Broadband Ideas Analysed by Ofcom

This week sees several new reports published by UK telecoms regulator Ofcom detailing the different ways the UK is deploying next generation fibre optic broadband services and how each different method could change the marketplace. Featureed largely in the reports are BT, IFPNL and i3 Group including their use of Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology to bring 100 Mbps FTTH networks to the country.

The three reports entitled ?Business to Business Interfaces?, ?Competitive models in Gigabit Passive Optical Networks? and ?GPON Market Review? are all fairly heavy articles that go into a large amount of technical depth, although they do also mention a few things that will be of interest to consumers. The reports detail whether not GPON would use Local Loop Unbundling (LLU), the same technology that ADSL has used to expand the market.

Importantly, the reports also mention the relative price of the GPON system:

?Cost modelling showed that the recovered cost per line per month for the Base scenario is GBP22 for a retail market with three operators. This figure is sensitive to the amount of existing duct that can be reused. The cost per line for 25% coverage ranges from GBP27 per month if ?low? amounts of duct are available, to GBP15 if an operator selectively deploys in available duct. Our result for medium duct availability (GBP22) compares well with BT?s proposed pricing for GEA, which is GBP25 per month for a 100Mbit/s peak rate product.?

Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology that we have mentioned on this blog in the past is much cheaper than GPON because FTTC utilising the existing copper wire already in place for phone lines, meaning that the length of new cable that needs to be laid is kept to a minimum. However, this method also means that FTTC will not be able to support speeds of anything near 100 Mbps, with ?up to? 40 Mbps being a likely starting point.

Like ADSL, FTTC also means that the further you are from the exchange the worst your speeds are likely to be.

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