The use of hybrid fibre- and copper-based access networks can complement the deployment of fibre to the home (FTTH) networks, especially in areas where the deployment of fibre in the final metres is difficult. G.fast is a copper-based access technology that can, in theory, provide a combined downstream and upstream transmission capacity of up to 1Gbps over a distance of 100m. In this article, we analyse the cost of fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp) with G.fast and assess the cost reductions that can be achieved in comparison with FTTH networks. Two types of FTTdp networks have been employed: fibre to the building (FTTdp-Building) and fibre to the street (FTTdp-Street). The results show that, for all the network scenarios studied, the cost of a home passed for FTTH and FTTdp-Building is the same, but the cost of a home passed for FTTdp-Street is on average 17.2% lower than the cost for FTTH. Regarding the cost per home connected, the usage of FTTdp-Building and FTTdp-Street leads to average cost reductions compared with FTTH of 1.1% and 10.8%, respectively. The cost reductions achieved when employing FTTdp are higher in urban areas than in suburban and rural areas. Several measures could be taken by policymakers to promote the deployment of FTTdp networks that work with G.fast: these include the coordination of frequency bands to avoid the interference of G.fast with very high speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) equipment and the speeding up of permissions for the installation of FTTdp equipment.
