Monday, February 12, 2007

Bye Bye Fiber to Node, Analyst Says


AT&T will alter the strategy on its broadband network upgrade within the next 12 to 18 months, shifting to a fiber-to-home design, says market research firm Pike & Fischer. Keep in mind that this is a separate issue from how well U-verse might be working.

Unless AT&T makes that investment, the U-verse service will not keep up with the cable industry's improvements in bandwidth and functionality, says Tim McElgunn, Pike & Fischer chief analyst.

"Pair bonding and compression, AT&T's current response to its network's bandwidth limitations, will not change copper to glass and will not provide AT&T with a long-term solution, in our opinion," says McElgunn.

Fiber to the node retains a cost advantage over fiber to the home, but costs continue to decline, and there's an overriding strategic consideration here. Sooner rather than later, FTTN will find itself unable to compete in a superior way with similar cable operator Hybrid Fiber Coax network designs, which FTTN essentially is, except for modulation techniques.

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