Optimized design strategies for planning the deployment of multiservice cable TV networks

While the local telecommunications networks in most developing countries are in the process of being reshaped, there is a unique and challenging perspective of implementing optimum design strategies capable of maximizing the synergies that can be identified in the outside plant. An evaluation is presented of cable TV network alternatives, on both the techo-economic (installed first cost) and the financial standpoint (break even and discounted payback period). The evaluation is carried out with the aid of an integrated modeling tool, made up by a geometrical network design model linked to a financial model, conceived as a decision making aid for the purpose of carrying out the dynamic process of planning. The impact of emerging optical technologies - erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), Nd:YAG lasers - is evaluated on the basis of projected cost trends. The profitability comparison of the network architecture solutions is carried out within the framework of the financial model which is based upon a business plan for an operational CATV network