re: broadband, page-3

re: broadband FTTH is the ultimate technology "end game", providing
more bandwidth than one could ever dream of and the most
"future-proof" solution. However, the capital investment
of introducing and all-fibre solution is significant and
network operators are not prepared to commit billions of
dollars for an uncertain return.
Therefore, most fibre builds tend to be new builds (new
industrial or residential complexes), not overbuilds. If
you’re already supplying most of the communications with
copper, pulling out that copper and replacing it with
fibre costs a lot of money. For instance, if we were to
re-wire Australia with fibre it would take 50 years!
In terms of FTTH deployment, it is assumed this includes
digging trenches in asphalt pavings/tarmac roads,
digging trenches in areas with tarmac-free surfaces and
the suspension of aerial cables along cable poles, with
the latter being less expensive. By far the largest
potential cost saving is in relation to being able to
deploy overhead (aerial) networks, rather than being
forced on environmental grounds into underground
deployment.
Typically, the average civil works costs per metre are
based on the assumed deployment of cables in the
respective areas, and the cost ranges between $100-350
per metre in civil works; whereas the actual fibre cable
cost itself is negligible. In some localities, such as
Lane Cove in Sydney, civil works costs can rise to $1800
per metre.
A general rule of thumb is that, 90% of the costs of
fibre optic deployment are in the civil works, with the
remaining 10% in the equipment.
Once you install the fibre, you then have to illuminate
it and turn it into usable bandwidth. For every $1 used
to dig up a street and install fibre, it costs another
$2 to actually make that fibre usable. Despite the huge
investments in telecom infrastructure over the years,
only 5% of the world’s optical fibres are actually lit
while the remainder lay in ducts as dark fibre.
Operators first have to successfully navigate the maze
of conduits and wall cavities that exist within the home
and pull the fragile fibre through to its final
destination. One this costly exercise is completed; it
requires termination by an Optical-electronic Networking
Unit (ONU). The costly ONU (optical modem if you like)
contain the lasers and opto-electrical conversion
devices required at each home to translate optical
signals transported down the fibre into electrical
signals that our computers and set top boxes can
understand. The economic viability of this scenario
might improve as soon as there is scale and cost
reductions in opto-electronic components, and when the
replacement of the copper infrastructure is warranted.
There are FTTH (sometimes referred to as
Fibre-to-the-Premises) deployments around the world
using a variety of low cost architectures, such as
Passive Optical Networks (PON), which use inexpensive
passive optical components to reduce equipment and
deployment costs. But the harsh reality is that it is
the civil works costs which impede the widespread
deployment of FTTH.
One needs to be careful when comparing FTTH deployments
one reads about in other countries to the unique
demographic and technical considerations for deployment
in Australia. It is obvious that areas with different
density of living units have significantly different
cost structures to ours.