re: broadband

re: broadband Network Operator TransACT, spun-off from ACTEW
Corporation - the energy and water utility in ACT, has
built and manages a VDSL network that offers broadband
services to over 95,000 homes in Canberra and environs.
The TransAct network is based on a FTTC (Fibre to the
Curb) architecture in which high capacity optical fibres
are taken "deep" into the neighbourhood via the overhead
power poles. The "drop" or last segment (up to 300
metres) of the connection to the subscriber consists of
a pair of copper wires (deployed and owned by Transact),
which utilise VDSL technology to achieve 50 Mbps
downstream and 1.6 Mbps upstream.
As previously stated, Telstra, the only other network
operator with its own copper pairs to subscribers’
homes, is likely to pursue an evolutionary path for a
future broadband network based on a combination of fibre
in the loop and copper for the drop segment of around
1.5Km, utilising both ADSL 2+ and perhaps VDSL. The
strategy referred to as Fibre to the Node (FTTN) will be
installed in five central cities covering 20,000 nodes
and four million homes.
New entrants, on the other hand, whilst not being
encumbered by any legacy network, have a starting
position with no existing access infrastructure. They
have three basic alternatives to providing access:
Rental of the existing access network, building their
own (wireline) access network or building their own
(wireless) access network – the question is: "Which
one?"
Rental of the access network
The access network or local loop has long been regarded
as a natural monopoly for the incumbent
telecommunication company like Telstra. The unique thing
about Telstra’s access network strategy, and worth
bearing in mind is that, unlike other incumbents around
the world (who may have a copper plant that constitutes
an access network), Telstra also owns a second access
network, namely its HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coax) cable
network that it also uses to deliver broadband services.
Unbundling the Local Loop (ULL) refers to the process of
allowing new entrants to gain access to either the
twisted copper pairs, a portion of the digital
bitstream, or a portion of the frequency spectrum in a
telephone local loop installed and owned by the
incumbent (i.e. Telstra). ULL enables potential new
entrants to test the market first before they build
their own network, and competition in the local loop was
expected to stimulate broadband penetration and the
development of e-commerce. Since Telstra controls the
majority of telephone lines into homes and DSL only
requires a modem at each end of the copper wire to
operate, unbundling this local loop was a way to
encourage competition in the last mile, and accelerate
the broadband rollout. But is it the case?
It comes as no coincidence that the more competitive
markets are those in which competitors have built their
own networks, rather than just reselling capacity on
Telstra lines. For example, corporate and business
customers have benefited to a much greater extent than
residential customers by virtue of infrastructure
rollout by new players. Similarly, the development of
competing mobile networks has created a structure for
more sustainable competition in this area of
telecommunications.