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TECHNOLOGY
RFOG Enables All-Fiber
Access Alternative for Real
Estate Owners and Developers
The new RFOG standard promises a win-win solution for cable providers and
property developers alike. It brings DOCSIS fiber all the way to the premises.
By Mark Conner ■ Corning Cable Systems and Shawn Esser ■ Motorola
Property owners and real estate
developers can command a premium
if their properties have
broadband access through an all-fiber
network. In fact, according to Michael
Render of RVA LLC, several studies his
company has conducted over the past
three years indicate that those familiar
with all-fiber residential access “would
spend $2,000 to $4,600 extra on average
to purchase a home with a direct fiber
connection if the choice came down to
two similar homes. This represents 0.5
percent to 1.1 percent of home values.”
But despite the value home buyers
place on all-fiber access, there have been
very limited options for deploying allfiber
networks to properties. In North
America, only one large, well-known
service provider, Verizon, is deploying
fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks
throughout a significant portion of its
footprint. Many small, progressive service
providers, such as independent
telephone companies, utility companies
and municipalities, are also rolling out
all-fiber networks.
If your property is not located in
one of these areas, there probably is no
option for an all-fiber network. And, if
your property is in one of these areas, it
almost certainly has only one all-fiber
access network choice; there is no competitive
alternative for the developer or
property owner to get fiber to the property.
Having a second provider for an allfiber
network is very desirable.
Find out more about RFOG at the
Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas,
April 27-29. Tap into the insights of a panel
representing key electronics and passive
solution providers as well as cable operators,
and learn how to put RFOG to work for you.
The obvious alternative providers for
all-fiber networks are multiple system
operators (cable MSOs). Their systems
blanket North America, and cable operators
have been using fiber in the access
network for decades in their hybrid fiber
coaxial (HFC) architecture. The fiber
reaches down to the neighborhood, and
coaxial cable is used to deliver services to
the customer premises. Cable operators
have been very successful in delivering
triple-play services over their HFC networks.
Using an evolutionary strategy,
they continually improve their HFC networks
to deliver more services and ensure
their long-term competitive position.
Thus far, cable operators have been
reluctant to take fiber all the way to the
premises. Cable operators will not be replacing
HFC networks in any significant
way yet, but all-fiber service delivery to
businesses and new homes does become
attractive when it is cost-effective and
exists transparently alongside existing
HFC networks.
On the surface, it would seem easy
for the cable operators to extend the
fiber from their HFC networks to the
premises. There have been all-fiber solutions,
such as broadband passive optical
networks (BPONs) and Ethernet passive
optical networks (EPONs), for many
years, but for good reasons, cable operators
have not deployed these, except in
some very rare cases. One large hurdle
to these solutions is that they require the
rest of the cable operators’ infrastructure
to change – from the set-top boxes
and DOCSIS (a registered trademark of
CableLabs) cable modems in the home,
to the equipment required to process
video, voice and data services in the
headend offices.
In addition, these PON systems
require different provisioning and billing
systems from what cable operators
are using to manage services over their
HFC networks. Replacing these systems
would represent both a heavy investment
and a major disruption to their opera-
60 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | January/February 2009