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With consumer demand for high-quality, multimedia-rich services expected to increase in the next decade, network operators are starting to deploy new access networks with fibre all the way to customer premises in order to dramatically increase the bandwidth they can provide. It is often thought that these fibre networks offer infinite capacity; however, in reality, the practicalities of deployment, architectural choices and performance constraints of networking equipment will lead to capacity being limited. This study explores the future evolution of technologies used in fibre optic networks.

Ofcom's technical research programme enables us to keep up to date with technologies and trends, so that we can be in the best possible position to execute our regulatory duties. We do not conduct research in-house but make use of external resources, such as private commercial organisations, university departments and government funded research institutions. These reports present the findings of technical work conducted on Ofcoms behalf. The opinions and conclusions stated within these reports are those of the organisations who conducted the research and may not reflect the view of Ofcom or imply any future policy work in related areas. Ofcom is not responsible for the content or accuracy of these reports.

• Fibre Capacity Limitations in Access Networks [pdf]
  Report by Analysys Mason

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