Beyond the Next Generation Access

This chapter considers the telecommunication access network technologies and their development trends in the future. The impact of these technologies on society is pointed out and an overview of the fixed and wireless Next Generation Access (NGA) is presented. The evolution of the current access networks, including topics such as future fiber and wireless access technologies and architectures, convergence of fixed and wireless access and virtualization of the core network are discussed. Based on the review and analysis of these issues, the idea for the development of the future telecommunication networks towards a Unified Virtual Network, having a unique and unified core and access infrastructure, is presented. A vision for the future development and evolution of such a virtual network is outlined, and the way that the physical and theoretical limits of the communication link throughput could be reached and even in some way exceeded. The development and evolution is considered to be a constant process towards super intelligence and perfection in such a way that the access network with all its users (humans and machines) will become a very intelligent and unique entity.