Less Revolution, More Evolution: Competitive Markets, Copper-based Broadband Tech, and Lessons for the Future

Deshpande, Advait and Jones, Allan (2023). Less Revolution, More Evolution: Competitive Markets, Copper-based Broadband Tech, and Lessons for the Future. IEEE Communications Magazine, 61(7) pp. 32–37.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.001.2200353

Abstract

This paper examines the factors that led to the ascendence of copper-based broadband technologies for delivering Internet connectivity in the United Kingdom. The outcome for competing fixed-line technologies such as coaxial cable and optical fibre is considered in conjunction with the role played by strategic and policy choices of regulators and a nascent competition in the telecom market. The paper shows that the deployment of copper-based broadband technologies was highly contingent on political expediency, uncertainty surrounding the potential end-user adoption of Internet connectivity, the fragmented nature of infrastructure development post-privatization, and commercial imperatives for British Telecom as competitive market forces took hold. The paper correlates these developments with the nascent digital transformation of telecom industry through software-defined networks, network function virtualization, and open radio access network technologies. The paper highlights that due to the inherently capital-intensive nature of the telecom industry and the role of end-user demand in competitive markets, the paradigmatic change offered by fibre technologies, or digital transformation of access network infrastructure will be a long-term prospect rather than a near-term outcome.

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