Is Copper The Future Of Fibre? G.Fast and The Battle Of Bandwidth

[Commentary] For operators with copper assets in the access network, there are two primary reasons for G.fast within FTTdp (the Broadband Forum’s ‘fibre to the distribution point’ architecture, which extends fibre to distribution points very close to the customer premises).

Firstly, it allows them to get to market more quickly with viable offerings able to compete, in ‘value-for-money’ terms, with end-to-end fibre (FTTH, fibre to the home) and the next update of the DOCSIS-based connections that offer high-speed Internet access over cable (coaxial or hybrid fibre/coaxial cable), a medium originally designed to deliver TV and sound programs to a mass audience.

Secondly, speed to market is coupled with a lower cost of deployment, making use of existing telephone wiring.

The cost of extending fibre to an individual customer premises can be prohibitive in variety of scenarios, such as in an apartment block with thick walls already wired with legacy copper, where FTTH deployment would be slow and expensive.

[Johnson is Chief Executive of UK based analyst house Point Topic]