Costs and benefits of superfast broadband in the UK

This paper was commissioned from LSE Enterprise by Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions to stimulate an open and constructive debate among the main stakeholders about the balance between the costs, the revenues, and the societal benefits of ‘superfast’ broadband. The intent has been to analyse the available facts and to propose wider perspectives on economic and social interactions. The paper has two parts: one concentrates on superfast broadband deployment and the associated economic and social implications (for the UK and its service providers), and the other considers alternative social science approaches to these implications. Both parts consider the potential contribution of smart solutions to superfast broadband provision and use. Whereas Part I takes the “national perspective” and the “service provider perspective”, which deal with the implications of superfast broadband for the UK and for service providers, Part II views matters in other ways, particularly by looking at how to realise values beyond the market economy, such as those inherent in neighbourliness, trust and democrac

Regulation of new markets in telecommunications? Market dynamics and shrinking monopolistic bottlenecks

This paper aims at localizing network-specific market power in new markets. Three kinds of transmission qualities on service markets can be differentiated according to the products provided: narrowband services like PSTN/ISDN or GSM, semi high-speed broadband services like broadband internet access up to 6 Mbps download and VDSL services up to 50 Mbps. As long as, due to the absence of alternative network infrastructures, a monopolistic bottleneck in local infrastructure networks exists the question arises what the remaining bottleneck components are for these different markets. In this paper the shrinking-bottleneck hypothesis will be demonstrated. --

Asymmetric digital subscriber line technology and the future of remote access networking

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Regulatory unbundling in telecommunications

Due to its dynamic nature, and the increasing importance of competitive sub-parts, the telecommunications sector provides particularly interesting insights for studying regulatory unbundling. Based on the theory of monopolistic bottle-necks the fallacies of overregulation by undue unbundling obligations are indicated. Neither the promotion of infrastructure competition by mandatory un-bundling of competitive subparts of telecommunications infrastructure, nor regulatory induced network fragmentation within monopolistic bottleneck com-ponents is justified. The impact of the shrinking of the areas of network specific market power on the remaining unbundling regulation is analyzed. Finally, the phasing-out potentials of unbundling regulation in European telecommunica-tions markets are pointed out. --

U.S. vs. European Broadband Deployment: What Do the Data Say?

As the Internet becomes more important to the everyday lives of people around the world, commentators have tried to identify the best policies increasing the deployment and adoption of high-speed broadband technologies. Some claim that the European model of service-based competition, induced by telephone-style regulation, has outperformed the facilities-based competition underlying the US approach to promoting broadband deployment. The mapping studies conducted by the US and the EU for 2011 and 2012 reveal that the US led the EU in many broadband metrics. • High-Speed Access: A far greater percentage of US households had access to Next Generation Access (NGA) networks (25 Mbps) than in Europe. This was true whether one considered coverage for the entire nation (82% vs. 54%) or for rural areas (48% vs. 12%). • Fiber Deployment: The US had better coverage for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) (23% vs. 12%). Furthermore, FTTP remained a less important contributor to NGA coverage than other technologies. • Regression Analysis of Key Policy Variables: Regressions built around the mapping date indicate that the US emphasis on facilities-based competition has proven more effective in promoting NGA coverage than the European emphasis on infrastructure sharing and service-based competition. • Investment: Other data indicate that the US broadband industry has invested more than two times more capital per household than the European broadband industry every year from 2007 to 2012. In 2012, for example, the US industry invested US$562 per household, while EU providers invested only US$ 244 per household. • Download Speeds: US download speeds during peak times (weekday evenings) averaged 15 Mbps in 2012, which was below the European average of 19 Mbps. There was also a disparity between the speeds advertised and delivered by broadband providers in the US and Europe. During peak hours, US actual download speeds were 96% of what was advertised, compared to Europe where consumers received only 74% of advertised download speeds. The US also fared better in terms of advertised vs. actual upload speeds, latency, and packet loss. • Pricing: The European pricing study reveals that US broadband was cheaper than European broadband for all speed tiers below 12 Mbps. US broadband was more expensive for higher speed tiers, although the higher cost was justified in no small part by the fact that US Internet users on average consumed 50% more bandwidth than their European counterparts. Case studies of eight European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) confirm that facilities-based competition has served as the primary driver of investments in upgrading broadband networks. Moreover, the countries that emphasized fiber-to-the-premises had the lowest NGA coverage rates in this study and ranked among the lowest NGA coverage rates in the European Union. In fact, two countries often mentioned as leaders in broadband deployment (Sweden and France) end up being rather disappointing both in terms of national NGA coverage and rural NGA coverage. These case studies emphasize that broadband coverage is best promoted by a flexible approach that does not focus exclusively on any one technology

Migración tecnológica utilizando VDSL/FTTX para mejorar los servicios de telecomunicaciones de una red de acceso en Guano/Technological migration using VDSL/FTTX to improve telecommunications services in an access network in Guano

Este trabajo detalla el uso eficiente y reutilización de recursos de infraestructura a través de la migración de una red de acceso convencional a una nueva red que implemente tecnología VDSL/FTTX para mejorar los servicios de telecomunicaciones en la ciudad Guano por intermedio de CNT EP. Se realizó un análisis comprensivo del estado actual de redes FTTX que utilizan tecnología VDSL para establecer el aporte en la mejora de servicios en redes implementadas. Por otro lado, se realizaron mediciones de los principales parámetros eléctricos (resistencia de bucle, atenuación y señal ruido) en 427 redes telefónicas en diferentes sectores del cantón Guano para conocer sus estados actuales y determinar los sectores con mayor deficiencia de servicio y que por ende no cumplían con los valores mínimos admitidos en la normativa de CNT EP. La implementación se realizó en el sector El Cisne conforme a la Normativa de diseño de Planta Externa con Plataformas de Acceso Exterior de CNT EP. Los resultados de la implementación permitieron tener un 91.27% de nivel de aceptación de la red con respecto a la resistencia de bucle, un 91.03% de aceptación con respecto a la atenuación y 95.29% respecto a al SNR, conforme a los establecido en la normativa vigente. Por lo tanto, la red de acceso implementada permite brindar QoS en el servicio de voz y datos para garantizar una reducción de gastos operativos, aumentar la competitividad, prestación de servicio eficiente a los clientes y cumplimiento de requisitos de la normativa de CNT EP. This paper details the efficient use and reuse of infrastructure through the migration from a traditional access network to a new network that implements VDSL / FTTX technology in order to improve telecommunications services in Guano city through CNT EP. The current state of FTTX networks that use VDSL technology was analyzed in order to establish the contribution for improving services in networks already implemented. On the other hand, measurements of electrical parameters (loop resistance, attenuation and signal noise) were carried out on 427 telephone networks in different sectors of Guano city to know their current states and decide the sectors with the greatest service deficiency and did not meet the minimum values allowed in the CNT EP regulations. The implementation was carried out in El Cisne sector in accordance with the External Plant Design Regulations with External Access Platforms for Network Deployment with VTL / FTTC Technology, by CNT EP. The results of the implementation showed 91.27% acceptance level of the loop resistance in the network, a 91.03% acceptance level of the attenuation and a 95.29% with respect to the signal noise, in accordance with the parameters established in the regulations. In conclusion, the access network with VDSL / FTTC technology implemented allows to provide QoS in the voice and data service in order to guarantee an efficient service to the clients and fulfilling all the requirements requested by the CNT EP. Palabras Claves: FTTC, VDSL, Fibra óptica, Atenuación, Resistencia de Bucle, SNR. Keywords: FTTC, VDSL, Fiber optic, Attenuation, Loop Resistance, SNR

Implications of Implementing HDTV Over Digital Subscriber Line Networks

This thesis addresses the different challenges a telecommunications company would face when trying to implement an HDTV video service over a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection. Each challenge is discussed in detail and a technology, protocol, or method is suggested to overcome that particular challenge. One of the biggest challenges is creating a network architecture that can provide enough bandwidth to support video over a network that was originally designed for voice traffic. The majority of the network connections to a customer premises in a telephony network consists of a copper pair. This type of connection is not optimal for high bandwidth services. This limitation can be overcome using Gigabit Ethernet (GE) over fiber in the core part of the network and VDSL2 in the access part of the network. For the purposes of this document, the core portion of the network is considered to be an area equal to several counties or approximately 50 miles in radius. The core network starts at the primary central office (CO) and spreads out to central offices in suburbs and small towns. The primary central office is a central point in the telecom operator\u27s network. Large trunks are propagated from the primary central office to smaller central offices making up the core network. The access portion of the network is considered to be an area within a suburb or small town from the central office to a subscriber\u27s home. Appendix A, located on page 60, contains a network diagram illustrating the scope of each of the different portions of the network. Considerations must also be given for the internal network to the residence such as category 5 (Cat5) cable or higher grade and network equipment that can provide up to 30 Megabits per second (Mbps) connections or throughput. The equipment in the telecommunications network also plays a part in meeting the challenge of 30 Mbps bandwidth. GE switches should be used with single mode fiber optic cable in the core part of the network. Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAM) with the capability to filter Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) messages should be used in the access part of the network to facilitate bandwidth utilization. Placement of this equipment and how the data is aggregated is another issue to consider when implementing HDTV service. Another major challenge facing the implementation of HDTV over DSL networks is controlling quality of service (QoS) throughout the network. Class of Service (CoS) and Differentiated Services (DiffServ) is a method of QoS that would enable video packets to have a higher priority and less delay than other data packets. The consumer could have data, video, and voice traffic all over the same DSL connection. Data, video and voice packets would need to have a different priority in order to maintain appropriate QoS levels for each service. The use of advanced technology in video encoding will be essential to the success of the video service. MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and Windows Media 9 are just a few of the video encoding technologies that could be used to reduce the necessary bandwidth for HDTV. The advancement of this technology is essential to allow telecommunications providers to offer HDTV. Another challenge for the telecom operator concerns the security of the network and service after implementation. Theft of service will be another area that the telecomm operator will be forced to resolve. The cable operators currently face this issue and lose millions of dollars in revenue. Authentication, IP filtering and MAC address blocking are a few possible solutions to this problem

Innovation, convergence and the role of regulation in the Netherlands and beyond

In the light of converging services for voice, data, and video, this paper discusses the challenges for telecommunications regulation from a European perspective. The Netherlands, a country with excellent conditions for facilities-based competition, is discussed as a case in point. With dynamic issues at the heart of the debate, the role of regulation and government intervention more generally is to create and possibly to sustain conditions among operators to upgrade their networks and to provide innovative services. A fresh look at current regulation suggests that an overhaul may be needed.