Assessment on the deployment of FTTH networks

While the technology to deploy FTTH networks has been known for some time, its deployment in Europe has been rather slow. Uncertainty about future regulation, low demand, a regulatory model base on the ladder of investment to achieve infrastructure competition, and the high costs to deploy a fixed network with near universal service are among the factors that are slowing down the deployment of FTTH networks. However, the need to replace the current access network (based in copper) seems clear, but this need is based more on intuition than on sound social or economic arguments. Therefore, the objective of the current theses is to review these topics in order to: 1. Re asses the need to migrate to FTTH networks in view of the current experience with the deployment of internet access services, clearly identifying the social and economic benefits of such a migration. 2. Review the current regulatory environment (in Europe and in Spain) to see if it is consistent with the findings in point 1 above. 3. To check whether there may be other technologies (mainly radio based) that may compete or complement FTTH deployments, taking into account the social and economic benefits expected