Techno-economic comparison of next-generation access networks for the french market

Abstract

The present paper compares, from a techno-economic point of view, two currently available access network solutions (Digital Subscriber Line and Passive Optical Network). It also considers Long-Reach Optical Access, which augments the span of the access network. All potential solutions are evaluated on the basis of Payback Period, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. The market is segmented in different areas depending on their respective households density, and various business models are considered, in order to assess the impact of public funding. The French market is shown to be the most demanding in Europe, due to its low broadband access tariffs. The paper shows that, unless the take up rate for optical access significantly increases beyond its actual value, the profitability of deploying optical access for the network operators is low. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.