Terrestrial connectivity networks always require as much as 80 percent of total invested capital in the access portion of the network, not the long haul or other facilities. For mobile operators and internet service providers, nearly all the capital cost lies in the access network (exclusive of spectrum investments, which would skew the ratio even further in the direction of access as the cost driver).
The same holds true for operating costs, where perhaps 85 percent of total operating costs lies in the access network.
Some focus only on WAN costs and interconnection, especially when arguing that “ISP prices are too high,” but the real costs for any ISP lie in the access network. Cost per gigabyte of transferred data might be low, but that is a relatively insignificant cost of doing business for ISPs operating in denser markets.
As always, interconnection and other transport costs are a higher cost item for ISPs in rural areas, with low subscriber density and distance from the nearest internet onramp (interconnection) point.
That also appears to be the case for energy consumption, as most of the active devices operate in the access plant. A 4G or 5G network, for example, might consume 73 percent of total energy in the radio access network.
The wide area core network might consume about 13 percent of total energy, while data centers and servers might consume nine percent of total energy.
The broader observation is that access is the expensive part of a connectivity network, whether looking at capital investment or operating expense.
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