Fibre loop architectures: a comparative evaluation

Several optical fiber system architectures for use in residential and business local loops are compared in terms of their economic and technical benefits. The architectures include fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) double star configuration, fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) tree configuration, FTTB fiber-to-the-office (FTTO) star configuration, and FTTB/FTTO ring/star configuration. It is concluded that a copper access network is more cost effective for narrowband services, although fiber-based solutions allow an easier evaluation toward broadband services.<>