Life cycle costs and economical budget of optical and hybrid access networks

A methodology for the assessment of optical access networks for the residential and small business user is presented. Its objective is the calculation of the overall financial budget of any kind of access system and includes the discount system cost, operation, maintenance and powering costs, life cycle costs and the cash balance of the project. This enables the comparison of various optical or hybrid architectures through a global systems assessment and contributes to the identification of minimum-risk introduction strategies. The methodology and the tool developed are being validated by comparison to operating European networks and field trials.