Reliability demands in FTTH access networks

In this paper reliability and bandwidth demands of existing, new and expected classes of applications running over Fiber To The Home (FTTH) networks to private users and small enterprises are analysed and discussed. Certain applications such as home security and telemedicine are likely to require high levels of reliability in the sense that the demands for network availability are high; even short times without connectivity are unacceptable. To satisfy these demands, physical redundancy in the networks is needed. It seems to be the case that - at least in the short term - most reliability-critical applications do not require much bandwidth. This implies that redundancy do not need to be by fiber, but can be ensured by e.g. coax, copper or wireless solutions. However, implementing these solutions need careful planning to ensure the physical redundancy. In the long term, it is more likely that physical redundancy by fiber will be requested, either due to reliability-critical bandwidth-critical applications or due to the general dependency on network connections. The paper is ended by a discussion and suggestions for further research. In particular, further research in combined wired/wireless networks and implementations of fiber redundancy is encouraged.