Fiber optics to the subscriber: objectives, costs, and technology assessment

Six architectures for the fiber-optic connection between the remote electronic sites and subscriber premises are considered with regard to geographic density of subscribers, costs trends for optoelectronics, optical fiber cable, and installation labour charges, service capacity, and service delivery method. Subscriber density within the subdivision and the distance between the remote sites and subdivision significantly affects installed first costs for the outside plant. A maximum of eight subscribers served from each drop access point, no patch panel between distribution cable and line interface cards, and distribution cable access without looping the cable in the drop access point (DAP) are all assumed in the costing of outside plant. These are some of the changes to traditional installation procedures that might be necessary to implement fiber economically in the distribution plant. Costs for the outside plant can be very sensitive to the maximum number of subscribers served from a drop access point. There is no clear choice among the six architectures studied from the cost standpoint, since administrative and operations impacts must be included. However, the 1/2-fiber star and Lambda/DAP bus architectures have been eliminated from a future cost-sensitivity study