As broadband networks undergo architectural changes, service providers are urged to address the challenges that come with them.
New research by Frost & Sullivan, "Assessment of Broadband Access Networks", discovered that fibre-optic networks, despite the high costs associated with them, are looking like the most viable solution for addressing customer needs without straining the network.
"The availability of rich multimedia content and services such as voice over Internet Protocol is driving the growth of broadband services across the world," notes Frost & Sullivan technical insights research analyst Zachariah Thomas.
"Governments and policy-makers are actively adopting broadband-friendly policies and offering incentives across the board to improve their standings in broadband league tables."
Flat-rate pricing models and loop bundling policies adopted by governments worldwide have had a great influence on broadband adoption. One of the challenges is the growing need for user bandwidth. This puts pressure on access networks, both financially and from an operational perceptive.
"The services and applications consumers use on their broadband service have changed from activities such as Web browsing and e-mail to more latency-intolerant applications such as streaming video and VOIP," says Thomas. "This has had a negative impact on the variable costs of service providers without providing additional revenue."
The future success of broadband access services will rely on their ability to support more bandwidth-intensive applications such as peer-to-peer and streaming video. It is for this reason that broadband service providers need to be open to innovative business models and pricing schemes if they plan to survive these new trends, says Frost & Sullivan.
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