Fibre Optic Access (FTTx)
Fibre access networks use fibre optic cable to connect the end-user premises (home or office building) to a larger service provider network. Large businesses have benefited from fibre access networks since the 1990's. The services provided by these fibre optic networks have been some of the best performing networks available anywhere in the world. In some cases it is now commercially feasible to build fibre optic networks for the residential market, particularly when low-cost installation methods are exploited.
There are two main technologies for fibre access network. These are called GPON and Point-to-point(P-t-P). GPON technology delivers 2.5 Gb/s downstream and 1.25 Gb/s upstream bandwidth. It uses a shared media fibre network that connects multiple households (up to 64 in the current generation of the technology). It is often (but not always) the technology of choice for cable operators and incumbent national telecom providers because it suits the topology of their networks best.
P-t-P Ethernet technology delivers 100Mb/s or 1 Gb/s bandwidth to each customer. It uses a dedicated fibre to each customer and delivers dedicated symmetric bandwidth. In most cases Fiwave recommends point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet for new fibre access networks because of the higher dedicated bandwidth and clear path for future upgrade to 10s of Gigabits per connection over the same fibre cable. The point to point topology is also easier to troubleshoot and cheaper to deploy in most scenarios.
Nevertheless the two technologies offer distinct sets of advantages and disadvantages, particularly with respect to performance, power requirement, operational costs and flexibility. Every specific scenario requires a separate evaluation to decide on the most suitable technology. Below are different deployment approaches for fibre access networks.