It was only a few years ago when major telecom industry players were touting G.fast technology as the new and fastest copper broadband service worldwide. Fast forward to 2021, due to increasing performance demands by users, the interest in G.fast as the main telecom standard is dwindling. The industry has firmly shifted its focus onto Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) deployments but often experience difficulties in cost-effectively accessing Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs), portraited in ‘The Last Mile Challenge’.The new focus was notably evident in 2018, when the UK government set a target of 15 million FTTH premises by 2025 and nationwide coverage by 2033.
As well as highlighting a vastly changing landscape when it comes to broadband trends and coverage, the shift reveals the clear urgency for faster, more reliable broadband, and the increasing importance that unfailing connectivity in the home plays in our everyday lives. With governments and telecom providers vying to discover new and innovative ways of deploying a cost-effective, rapid solution of delivering this in both rural and densely packed areas, will fiber access extension over coax technology (MoCA Access) be able to provide this?
What’s the difference between G.fast and MoCA Access based access technologies?
G.fast and MoCA Access technology all have unique capabilities and strengths. Legacy technologies such as G.fast was viewed as an attractive option offering ultra-fast speeds of up to 2Gbps in densely populated MDU environments, when time-to-market was critical. Realistically, G.fast technology can only provide 300 Mbps over copper from the street cabinet, which is far lower than the speeds typically associated with fiber deployments. MoCA Access technology, on the other hand, has more fiber-like characteristics. Deploying a fiber access extension technology such as MoCA Access instead of G.fast will not only meet MultiGigabit requirements, but offer symmetrical services with low latency.
Additionally, fiber technology is becoming the viable broadband standard for its increased reliability and consistent connectivity compared to legacy alternatives that are used for time to market availability, but not seen as the long-term solution in line with today’s rapidly evolving demands and technology.Fiber access extension technology based on the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA®) standard can provide operators with a future-proof option, and reuse in-building infrastructure as a coaxial network to yield enhanced MultiGigabit speeds and reduced infrastructure costs.
Changing trends
As broadband has become a staple necessity, so too has the demand for more extensive coverage in all areas, including rural countryside settings with little to no signal, or large MDUs in big cities. Fiber technology has the added advantage of enhanced flexibility and emerged at a time when this need started to ramp up in the midst of changing trends and demands.
The overall cost of delivering the technology to the end-user can also cause a potential headache for telecom operators and be a major deciding factor on what technology to adopt and deploy. This is also compounded by the desire from operators to push fiber deeper into the network. As a G.fast Distribution Point Unit (DPU) must co-exist with legacy DSL and VDSL services, the cost per subscriber will therefore end up higher than alternatives such as MoCA Access. Deploying fiber access extension technology over existing coax infrastructure can facilitate seamless communications and fiber-like services.
A viable alternative
With copper-based cabling remaining commonplace for older Fiber-To-The-Curb (FTTC) deployments, service providers worldwide are looking for viable alternatives and solutions that can rectify the flaws of G.fast. One way to avoid costly and long-term issues is through fiber access extension technology. Leveraging existing coax infrastructure to avoid expensive in-building fiber installation costs, this technology also enables fiber to be installed directly to the building, meaning that the same benefits are reaped, and for a much lower cost.
Furthermore, fiber access extension technology has the ability to support both Point-to-Point (P2P) and Point-to-Multipoint (P2MP) coaxial networks, as well as enabling management capabilities and low latency with MultiGigabit speeds. This allows for telecom operators and internet service providers to deploy their fiber extension networks effectively.
A push for MDU connectivity in the 5G age
One of the biggest obstacles service providers face is the task of efficiently providing MDU coverage, as it is estimated that fiber deployments in MDUs can be as much as 40% of Fiber-To-The-Building (FTTB) deployment costs. Therefore this presents an expensive and labor-intensive hurdle for operators when it comes to laying fiber directly in the premises. Furthermore,G.fast may no longer be the future-proof option for operators that may seek to re-use the copper-based phone lines, and suffer from fluctuating broadband speeds. As this is dependent on the line’s performance,the connection can be as low as 100Mbps up to 1Gbps.
Fiber access extension technology can also combat the connectivity complexities for residents and businesses as MDU buildings already have existing coaxial networks. Therefore, deploying fiber access extension technology can allow operators to provide dependable broadband access with reduced complexity and costs. By reusing existing coaxial networks, fiber extension technology ensures that operators do not have to re-cable the premises with fiber which subsequently reduces implementation times. It also provides users with broadband access usually at the heart of the apartment.
With the rise of fiber technology in the telecoms landscape taking hold, the demand for G.fast is falling in Europe and North America. This is due to factors such as cost, availability and performance. However, telecom providers need to ensure they are utilizing the most optimal fiber access extension technology available to facilitate seamless fiber deployments en masse and achieve national aggressive Internet connectivity and MultiGigabit speed targets.
Fiber access technologies also support the convergence between 5G and fixed line services and can use the Residential Gateway as a 5G service node with Gigabit services.
