Page 2 - 20180911 Access Transformation white Paper Final

Executive Summary
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Broadband service trends have gone through a significant evolution and there is no sign
of this slowing down. In the early days of the internet all interactive applications were
text based and file-sharing was considered a background task! Since then waves of
Broadband service demand is increasing
innovation and application adoption have pushed subscriber demand.
exponentially. In addition, competitors are
A first evolution wave hit in the 1990’s with the introduction of search engines and multi-media disrupting the market by introducing
browsers. In the early 2000’s distributed file and content sharing dominated demand, taken over leapfrog offers that far exceed bandwidth
quickly in the late 2000’s by broadcast and over the top video streaming combined with the demand. To meet these challenges
upsurge of social media. The latest connected living innovation cycle - driven by the Internet of technology is being evolved at a breakneck
things and real time cloud-based applications - propels the need for both upstream and speed.
[1]
downstream bandwidth . The impact of the broadband service evolution is considered the
[2]
trigger for the third industrial revolution . In such a fluid transformation, a well-
managed access network technology
As a result, overwhelming pressure is put on a service providers access network to keep
evolution is a must for any operator.
up with this steep broadband demand curve. Luckily the broadband service innovation is
balanced by an equally if not faster technology innovation cycle. Selecting the right technology
evolution path is critical to ensure
This paper focuses on the technical evolution of the access network. It describes competitiveness and profitability.
methodologies to evolve the capacity of an access network and how these
methodologies are applied in copper, fiber and wireless networks. We will explain the Key Words: PON, DOCSIS, HFC, Wireless,
similarities in transformation strategies of multiple access technology families and how Access Transformation
to plan for an increasingly hybrid and converged access network.

CONTENTS
KEY TAKEAWAYS

Executive Summary 2
Introduction 3 ▪ All access technology families have
similar upgrade paths
Technology Upgrade Action 5 ▪ Innovation can extend the life of a
DSL Technology Evolution 5 technology family
▪ Deploying fiber closer to the subscriber
HFC Technology Evolution 6
is a common trend in all types of access
PON Technology Evolution 6 networks
Fixed Wireless Evolution 7 ▪ Wired and wireless handoffs are a
common theme in many deployments
Architecture Upgrade Action 8

HFC Action - Node Spit/Segmentation 8
DSL Action - Remote DSLAMS 8
Fiber Action - A Different Animal 9
Fixed Wireless Action - Small cells, Frequency Overlay 9

Network Convergence 9

Conclusions 10

References 11
About the Author 11

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