Telcordia® FTTP Portfolio

Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP): Revolutionizing the Bells' Telecom Networks

A Joint Bernstein Research-Telcordia Technologies Study
Thought Leadership from Telecom's industry experts

Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) is an option that has been prematurely dismissed by most of the RBOCs' investors and company managements. The most common argument holds FTTP as unjustifiable due to the limited revenue opportunities it supports (generally believed to be only faster broadband connections and entertainment video). This mindset misses the point that much of the financial justification for a broad and aggressive RBOC FTTP overbuild, lies in its ability to reduce expenses by streamlining the Bells' operations processes.

In the RBOCs' defense, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They confront an intensifying competitive landscape for their wireline business - a business that drives 65% of their current revenues and more than 80% of their combined free cash flow. While a major network upgrade to their highest-value customers could significantly improve their cost and service competitiveness, generating sufficient cash flow to fund such a project would result in significant investor backlash.

So what are Bell managers to do? Consider an aggressive FTTP deployment that can lead to the kind of transformation required in both network design and business management that dramatically reduces RBOC costs.