Value networks and quantitative social cost-benefit analysis in telecommunications access networks

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The efficiency and effectiveness of a mixed public-private broadband deployment

Although it is widely accepted that the future telecommunications access infrastructure relies heavily on Fiber-to-the- Home (FTTH), its deployment is compromised because it requires substantial investment. As such, if the decision to go ahead with the investment is made, the partners involved should make sure the deployment and operations are performed as efficiently and effectively as possible, to ensure both economic and social viability. A deployment is efficient if achieved at minimum expense and is effective if it reaches the outlined goals. This paper analyses the impact of policy decisions affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand's public-private partnership in charge of building up a nationwide FTTH network: the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network. The paper concludes that in the context of such type of partnership a trade-off exists between efficiency and effectiveness. Although both concepts are well suited for assessing the performance of large-scale projects such as FTTH rollouts, they are not necessarily always aligned

Cost-efficient NGN rollout

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Optimized synergy in FTTH infrastructure deployment: pragmatic as well as structural approaches

Underground installation of utility infrastructures such as energy and telecoms is prevalent in large parts of Europe. As this labor-intensive trenching comprises 70% - 80% of deployment cost, the overall investment for Fiber-to-the-Home installations can be significant. Important reductions in these costs are possible by performing road works in synergy. With the increased level of detail in the geographical information bases containing all information on the installation per operator, opportunities for synergies are easier to spot and could lead to very important reductions in the operators' costs. Policy measures recently also give a lot of focus in facilitating the rollout of high-speed broadband networks and cross-utility coordination. Several approaches can be considered to really capture potential savings and benefits in the deployment phase. This paper discusses pragmatic as well as structural approaches towards deployment cost optimization based on synergetic rollout schemes

Techno-economic viability of integrating satellite communication in 4G networks to bridge the broadband digital divide

Bridging the broadband digital divide between urban and rural areas in Europe is one of the main targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe. Though many technological options are proposed in literature, satellite communication has been identified as the only possible solution for the most rural areas, due to its global coverage. However, deploying an end-to-end satellite solution might, in some cases, not be cost-effective. The aim of this study is to give insights into the economic effectiveness of integrating satellite communications into 4G networks in order to connect the most rural areas (also referred to as white areas) in Europe. To this end, this paper proposes a converged solution that combines satellite communication as a backhaul network with 4G as a fronthaul network to bring enhanced broadband connectivity to European rural areas, along with a techno-economic model to analyse the economic viability of this integration. The model is based on a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model for 5 years, taking into account both capital and operational expenditures, and aims to calculate the TCO as well as the Average Cost Per User (ACPU) for the studied scenarios. We evaluate the suggested model by simulating a hypothetical use case for two scenarios. The first scenario is based on a radio access network connecting to the 4G core network via a satellite link. Results for this scenario show high operational costs. In order to reduce these costs, we propose a second scenario, consisting of caching the popular content on the edge to reduce the traffic carried over the satellite link. This scenario demonstrates a significant operational cost decrease (more than 60%), which also means a significant ACPU decrease. We evaluate the robustness of the results by simulating for a range of population densities, hereby also providing an indication of the economic viability of our proposed solution across a wider range of areas

Cost evaluation of innovative offers using detailed equipment, process and network modeling languages

The fast evolution of networks, techniques and tools makes designing the business case for a new high tech customer offer a collaborative task, in which multiple specialized firms each provide their own expertise to the offer, making it as such the most advanced, yet cost-effective on the market. While in the past, the design of such a business case was made using the "back of an envelope" calculation, the complexity such collaborative effort entails, increases the need for specific tools for modeling the firms' interaction without losing the specifics of the cost-benefit models for the individual partners. To contribute to the effective design of collaborative business cases, this paper will describe a scalable multi-level quantification approach, while focusing on specific modeling languages for detailed cost modeling for the different partners: equipment modeling, process modeling and network modeling