Overall Plan for Copper-Fiber Infrastructure Switchover: Why, Where, and When

Abstract

Nowadays, broadband plays an important role in our society. Countries around the world are pursuing initiatives to provide high-speed broadband as a universal service. Currently, digital subscriber line technologies (xDSL) dominate the broadband market, covering more than half of the subscriptions in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. However, these technologies are unlikely to keep up with these ambitious broadband goals; consequently, traditional copper carriers should need to undertake a costly transition in their access infrastructure sooner or later by moving from copper- to fiber-based lines. It is crucial to study, understand, and evaluate different ways of performing this transition to take advantage of the required investment. This paper presents an overall strategy for a copper-fiber switchover, transitioning from the analysis of current copper access, including its limitations, to systematic methods for planning the fiber upgrade and evaluating its economic feasibility. The following questions summarize the investigated key points of focus: Is it necessary to upgrade the copper access infrastructure? Where is it more efficient to initiate the fiber deployment? When is the investment expected to return profits?