Copper Switch Off: Migration from Copper to FTTP

Copper Switch Off: The migration from Copper to FTTP technology

Copper switch-off is on the agenda as incumbents around the world announce the dismantling of their legacy networks.

On 15 December 2021, the BEREC Fixed Network Evolution (FNE) working group co-chairs held a public debriefing to present the outcome of identifying a consistent approach to migration and copper switch-off. The de-briefing provided an overview of the dominant market leaders' status and plans for copper switch-off.

The research obtained showed that in 20 of the 32 European countries examined, the dominant telecommunications market leaders had already announced their plans to switch off their legacy copper access networks. In 17 of the 32 countries examined, the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) had already set up rules for the migration process and copper switch-off.

What is Copper Internet?

Switching off copper means the withdrawal of legacy copper cables in the traditional telecommunications access network and the shutdown of copper-based local exchanges.

When the decommissioning of copper occurs, customers are transitioned to alternative solutions such as fiber-to-the-home, mobile, or fixed wireless access.

A copper-based Internet connection refers to the traditional connection type that has been used historically. Copper cables were originally designed for telephone wiring that exists in homes and businesses through wire-based phone lines. The world's first copper networks were implemented more than 150 years ago with the advent of telegraph communication.

Copper Network Legacy timeline

1850: Telegraph Communication initiated the rollout of long-distance copper infrastructure.

1900:Telephone Communication spurs copper infrastructure rollout to support voice.

2000: Internet drives upgrade of copper infrastructure to support dial-up and DSL.

2020: Broadband necessitates partially fiberized copper.

Today, with 4.66 billion active Internet users worldwide - 59.5% of the global population, and with each household consuming more than 344 GB of data per month, according to the FCC, for the Internet network to continue to deliver exponential growth in data, a more efficient and future-proof infrastructure is needed.

What is Fiber-to-the-Cabinet?

Fiber-to-the-binet connectivity is a network architecture that is based on a combination of fiber optic and copper cable to deliver broadband.

Fiber-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), also referred to as 'Super Fast Broadband' or 'Fiber Broadband', involves running fiber optic cables from the telephone exchange (or distribution point) to the street cabinets which then connect to a residential or commercial property. The connection between the street cabinet and the home or business is known as the “last mile”. The last mile of an FTTC connection is delivered through old copper phone wires, and this means that the further your premises are from the street cabinet, and depending on how many others are sharing the connection, the slower your Internet will run. With fluctuating Internet speeds and no guarantee of Internet performance, this makes FTTC difficult to use in business environments.

Fiber-based Internet and Gigabit Broadband

With today's demand for higher GB Internet availability, Fiber Internet is the most attractive future-proof technology due to its capability of delivering ultra-fast gigabit broadband to homes and businesses.

Whilst most business decision-makers observe the speed benefits of fiber Internet, other advantages that fiber offers are less commonly understood.

Symmetric Speed

Many fiber connections offer equal upload and download speeds, whilst broadband and cable often only offer high download speeds. Further, because fiber optic cables are designed to carry light, fiber to the premises makes the transferring of data, to and from the Internet exchange, superfast compared to standard broadband, no matter how far you are from the exchange.

Cost

Fiber Internet presents attractive cost economics in terms of the lower total cost of ownership than copper networks, as well as lower energy usage and lower incremental cost of future upgrades.

Reliability

Fiber is less prone to downtime than copper-based services because it provides consistent and complete coverage, which can be a disadvantage of wireless service.

Security

Because fiber networks don't send out a signal, they're nearly impossible to hack or tap into which is also a cost-effective way of instantly increasing your Internet security.

Voiped Telecom

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Voiped Telecom is a European Internet service provider offering businesses flexible and secure FTTP Internet access in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, and, Ukraine. With some of the highest maximum speeds on the market ranging from 330Mbps to 1Gbps, Voiped Telecom provides diversity in connection as well as endless configurations according to your company's specification requirements.

Voiped Telecom partners with leading connectivity providers across Europe, including BT Openreach, VodafoneZiggo, Telefonica, Damovo, and Orange to facilitate your fiber Internet connection and we provide you excellent customer support from the moment of contact to the installation and delivery of your fiber connection. This managed approach allows companies to have direct contact with Voiped Telecom to achieve the highest efficiency of their fiber Internet connection.

Mar 09, 2022

Copper Switch Off: The migration from Copper to FTTP technology