Is home broadband's future wireless?

In the same way that everyone always wants a faster PC, we also want faster communications. I’ve learnt throughout my time in the data communications industry that applications rarely drive speed; it’s speed that drives applications.
Over the years, network speeds have increased several thousandfold. This relentless increase has caused Ofcom to look at the regulation of future higher-speed broadband services. Its thoughts on the matter are worth a read and got me thinking about the technologies that will be used.

It is clear that the speeds achievable over the copper access network are already at the limit the technology can provide. A very short line can achieve a download speed of about 24Mbit/s given the right equipment at the exchange. Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) is only likely to increase speeds a little more but it will substantially increase the number of sites that can operate at those speeds. This is because of the shorter runs of copper.

Fibre to the home (FTTH) is needed if wired connections are to go significantly faster. Unfortunately, the expense of connecting up houses and offices with new fibre is very high. The cost of FTTC is much lower because of the concentration effect at the street cabinets.

Can wireless technologies solve the investment problem? Wimax and similar technologies will compete on speed with FTTC and the comparative costs are reasonable, particularly in areas where the population density is low.

In principle, future radio systems could provide very high speeds to compete with FTTH but will require new spectrum. Higher speeds tend to require higher carrier frequencies or complex modulation schemes, both of which result in shorter range. There will come a crunch point with conventional wireless where so many base stations are needed that it becomes uneconomic, but let’s hope that point is a long time away. New mesh radio techniques may help but they bring their own problems.

Ofcom wants to make sure that regulation does not restrict the flow of investment into new network access technologies and is asking for views on what it should do. It is worried that some other countries are already providing fibre-based services and wants the UK to catch up. It even asks whether there should be government intervention to create incentives for investment. In the interests of technology competition, perhaps Ofcom should make new spectrum available at reasonable prices so that wireless can compete more easily with fibre?

The results of the Ofcom consultation could make quite a difference to the way that future broadband services evolve in the UK. Everyone with an interest in this should take part in the consultation. Let’s hope that the UK does not get left too far behind.