[AusNOG] Simon Hackett's presentation from Comms Day yesterday - NBN fibre on copper prices

[Mark Delany]

On 19Jul13, Stephen Carter (FirstPath) allegedly wrote:

> we simply "activate" the spare 4 or 5 cores that we delivered day 1
> (std install is a minimum 6 core cable).

Agreed, if you deliver multiple activated cores to a premise you can
achieve RSP independence *and* off-the-shelf CPE.

But I'd be surprised if the CPE savings would be enough to offset the
increased infrastructure cost of delivering 2-3 times as many active
cores as is currently designed.

But if you know this cost-offset to be true, then sign me up for
multiple activated cores. I'm with you all the way.

(This is all complicated by the PSTN emulation as you could argue that
sans PSTN, the consumer demand for a second activated core would be
uncommon and thus the current design would work. But my understanding
is that switching to an RSP-per-core model doesn't fit if you expect
substantial PSTN-emulation uptake.)

So maybe in ten years time when everyone gets off of PSTN emulation,
then an RSP-per-core model could work with the current infrastructure.

In that light, the current CPE may well be viewed as a one-time
component that a) solves a number of transition issues; b) reduces
installation risks and c) entrenches a consumer controlled RSP model
all with a modest increase in cost.


Mark.