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

[John Edwards]

On 21/07/2013, at 2:18 AM, Bevan Slattery wrote:

> GPON is not as secure as people may think through unencrypted upstreams and I think even clear passwords, so my guess is that an NBN Co. Also one faulty ONU could take down the 31 other customers on the span.  ONU management is one way to try to manage this issue and without understanding their actual config, I'm guessing there is strong auth between the ONU and OLT.  Also there might be some DoS protection built in these days.  Again, it won't solve some of the security issues for those with intent to intercept/interfere but I'm sure it will help.
> 
> I think there is inherent risk, particularly in the early stages of deployment of trying to maintain a certain level of visibility/managability and consistency to end user deployments by letting providers connect whatever ONU they choose.  If the FttP deployment was EP2P then that would be a different story!  Anyway food for thought.

Hi Bevan,

I think this argument is a distraction when compared to the costs of a FTTH network.

Today there are millions of Australian mobile subscribers bringing their own CPE to a data network on a shared medium that has a much greater surface area than 31 neighbours, and everyone seems quite content, even preferring this situation over the certainty of a fixed line.

Once upon a time, DSL CPE had to be certified by Telstra for an ISP to be allowed to sell it to customers for attachment to DSL ports. Then ISP's started to deploy their own DSLAMs outside of Telstra's authority, and the certification process evaporated. Networks didn't collapse, instead a barrier to innovation was removed and we ended up with a diverse market for CPE.

Carrier-managed CPE may simplify troubleshooting and give engineers the certainty they seek, but creates a dependency that only the carrier can execute maintenance - which drives up costs. Given that most telco call centres in Australia (the notable exception being iiNet) consider single-digit NPS figures something to be proud of, I wouldn't be so quick to recommend this option.

It also implies carrier truck roll to troubleshoot and replace. Best case scenario here for cost is a courier-supplied replacement unit, which still means days of downtime for end users, lost productivity having to wait for courier/truck-roll and no opportunity to self-spare. Today we have a situation where even the supplied UPS is hardwired - I can't be trusted to keep it plugged in for my own service, or power it from a portable generator in an extended blackout. What's next - a dishonour fee if I let a circuit breaker trip?

If the carrier is protecting an artificial scarcity business model that uses the CPE to control speeds, maybe this is a valid argument in 1999. I am pretty sure the OLT can do something about this in 2013.

There's also nothing stopping a "cheap and cheerful" solution being upgraded to "managed cathedral" later on if it doesn't work out. It can flip the other way as well, but in that case the initial money will still be spent. How about we run two fibres and two splitters to the end of each street instead of just one, to provide both managed and free-for-all models, and let the RSP's decide which model they want to support - I know which one I'll bet on for success in the market.

John