Q5 Interview - Stephen King, Phyworks

Stephen King, CEO of optical communications specialists Phyworks talks to Electronics Weekly about the status of broadband in the UK, why we are lagging so far behind other countries, and the future of FTTh technology.

What's wrong with the UK's current broadband infrastructure?

The answer 'there's just not enough fibre!' may seem simplistic, but I believe it's correct. The Regulator's stats telling us that homes in the UK get on average just 3.6Mbps makes for sad but true reading. The UK's legacy copper infrastructure is not up to the broadband job. Fibre-to-the-curb (FTTc), where the final connection to the home is over VDSL copper will not do either, what's needed is true fibre-to-the-home (FTTh). Consumer demand is rising for a host of different video on demand services and 'catch-up' services like iPlayer, 4oD and so on all need bandwidth.

Single channel standard definition IPTV really needs around 7Mbps, while high definition needs 20Mbps. BERR's 'Digital Britain' is targeting 2Mbps for all UK homes by 2012 - time to think again! In 2008 alone YouTube was responsible for more consumer Internet traffic than the total amount of traffic crossing the US Internet backbone in 2000. Such increases are exponential - the message is clear: 'think bigger'!

How does the UK broadband infrastructure compare with other countries'?

Frankly it doesn't. In other regions of the world we see the telcos more actively battling it out with the cable companies, deploying national FTTh networks for the delivery of in-depth triple play services. This has stimulated far greater competition and consequently higher levels of consumer service than can be found in the UK today. Japan and the USA have been deploying FTTh for a couple of years now, China and Korea for a year or so.

Even in the current economic climate, US telco Verizon is reporting record deployments; in Q4'2008 it connected a further 500,000 US homes. The US is also migrating right now from 622Mbps (BPON) to 2.5Gbps (GPON) access technology, which is sold on to consumers as a 100Mbps service. In France, the Netherlands and Sweden either PON or point-to-point solutions are being deployed.

Why is the UK so behind other countries?

I'm sure regulation has been a contributing factor. There's simply little incentive for a telco to invest the 10s of billions of pounds that's needed to create a national FTTh network if it ultimately needs to be 'shared' in some way with its direct competition. In the USA for example Verizon and Comcast have invested in their own separate networks and compete head to head. The lack of competition on the infrastructure side in the UK doesn't help.

I do sense that other governments have historically been a little more supportive in the roll out of national fibre networks, in China, Japan and Korea government legislation has clearly helped. Culturally, I see no less consumer appetite for broadband services in the UK than in the USA for example. OK so population density and road networks may perhaps present a unique set of challenges to fibre deployment in the UK but they can be overcome. In Bournemouth for example the sewer network is being used to counter the civil engineering overhead.

What technology options are available today and can be adopted by the UK?

In the USA, ITU standard GPON FTTh fibre networks are already being embraced by the consumer and can deliver 2.5Gbps downstream (to the house) and 1.25Gbps on the upstream. In Japan, the Ethernet standard EPON is preferred, delivering a symmetrical 1.25Gbps on both downstream and upstream.

In the UK, there are actually a considerable number of localised projects claiming super-fast net access to homes, however these are in the main either based on existing cable TV networks, or are Fibre to the Curb. Only with Greenfield developments are we currently seeing true FTTh, the most publicised being the Wembley City development, the new commuter town of Ebbsfleet and the future Olympic Village. Ebbsfleet for example uses GPON, a technology that could certainly be adopted on a national basis. The technology is mature and the equipment cost effective, although the £30Bn price tag for getting fibre to every home in the UK I accept is 'significant'.

What is the future of FTTh technology?

Two new standards for 10G PON fibre networks will be ratified later this year, XGPON and 10GEPON, both will initially support an asymmetric 10Gbps on the downstream and 1.25Gbps on the upstream, I expect these to become 10Gbps symmetric soon after. It offers greater economies of scale by allowing more splits in the network (more houses reached from a hub) and of course far greater traffic handling than anything we know today. Japan is already looking to make a move to 10GEPON and the world's first 10GEPON demonstrator has already been announced - by a UK company too. The introduction of bendable fibre will also get around another major obstacle to the proliferation of fibre optic lines.

Removing the problem of 'light venting' caused when traditional optical fibre cables are bent or curved, bendable fibre will be flexible enough to wind around a pencil while delivering a signal at full strength. In the UK, I believe the adoption of FTTh is a matter of strategic importance. If the UK's core competencies are to rely on data processing and distribution then the infrastructure needs to be there to support it. National competitiveness and employment will demand it.

See also: Q5 - Interviews with electronics industry leaders
Read all the Electronics Weekly Q5 interviews. From ARM's chairman, Sir Robin Saxby, to touchscreen technology firm Zytronic's MD, Mark Cambridge, the business leaders share their particular insights on the UK electronics industry.