Open Access Network
Encyclopedia
An open-access network refers to a horizontally layered
network architecture
in telecommunications, and the business model
that separates the physical access to the network from the delivery of services. In an OAN, the owner or manager of the network does not supply services for the network; these services must be supplied by separate retail service providers. There are two different open-access network models: the two- and three-layer models.
telephone and cable television
networks were designed around the limitations of the prevailing technology. The copper-wired
twisted pair
telephone networks were not able to carry television programming, and copper-wired coaxial
cable television networks were not able to carry voice telephony. Towards the end of the twentieth century, with the rise of packet switching
—as used on the Internet—and IP-based
fiber and wireless technologies, it became possible to design, build, and operate a single high performance network capable of delivering hundreds of services from multiple, competing providers.
than traditional telecommunications networks. Regardless of whether the two- or three-layer model is used, an open-access network fundamentally means that there is an "organisational separation" of each of the layers. In other words, the network owner/operator cannot also be a retailer on that network.
that deliver services over the network.
or wireless
infrastructure
—is owned by one company, the operations and maintenance of the network and the provision of services is run by a second company, and the retail service providers provide the third layer.
access networks, especially where exclusivity cannot be allowed. The shared maintenance costs make it appropriate for rural areas, where traditional Internet service providers (ISP)
may be reluctant to provide a service. Open access networks are also viewed as a feasible way of deploying next-generation broadband
networks in low population density areas where service providers cannot obtain a sufficient return on investment
to cover the high costs associated with trench
ing, right-of-way encroachment permits, and the requisite network infrastructure.
In contrast to traditional municipal networks where the municipality
owns the network and there is only one service provider, the open access model allows multiple service providers to compete over the same network at wholesale prices. This allows service providers to make money in the short-term, and the municipality or cooperative
to recoup its costs over the long-term. The build-out and infrastructure is typically financed through low-cost bonds.
Open access networks have proven successful in parts of the United States
, Europe
, and Asia
. One of the best known and most mature OANs is in Västerås
, Sweden
, a city of about 40,000 homes. The Västerås OAN has dozens of providers, and more than a hundred services available to users. In the US, open access networks like municipality owned The Wired Road in Virginia
have been able to attract both local and regional service providers quickly. This has resulted in the cost of Internet access and telephone service for business users in The Wired Road service area to decline by fifty to seventy percent due to the increased competition between providers. This OAN provides open access transport to any service provider that meets minimum technical and financial qualifications, including allowing existing providers to supply enhanced services, however it does sell services itself and therefore does not compete with private sector providers.
Australia
and Singapore
also have open-access networks based on fiber to the home. In Australia, the leading open-access provider currently is Opticomm, who have been delivering services to over thirty communities since the mid-2000s. Australia also has the recently formed government owned corporation NBN Co Limited
, who are creating the National Broadband Network
to provide open-access fiber to the node at one gigabit per second for more than ninety-three percent of homes and businesses in the country, and fixed wireless
and satellite
technologies with a minimum speed of twelve megabits per second to the remainder of the population.
Network Layer
The network layer is layer 3 of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking.The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate routers, whereas the data link layer is responsible for media access control, flow control and error checking.The network...
network architecture
Network architecture
Network architecture is the design of a communications network. It is a framework for the specification of a network's physical components and their functional organization and configuration, its operational principles and procedures, as well as data formats used in its operation.In...
in telecommunications, and the business model
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
that separates the physical access to the network from the delivery of services. In an OAN, the owner or manager of the network does not supply services for the network; these services must be supplied by separate retail service providers. There are two different open-access network models: the two- and three-layer models.
History
In the twentieth century, analogAnalog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
telephone and cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
networks were designed around the limitations of the prevailing technology. The copper-wired
Electrical wiring
Electrical wiring in general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated devices. This article describes general aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring. This article is intended to...
twisted pair
Twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring in which two conductors are twisted together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic interference from external sources; for instance, electromagnetic radiation from unshielded twisted pair cables, and crosstalk between neighboring pairs...
telephone networks were not able to carry television programming, and copper-wired coaxial
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...
cable television networks were not able to carry voice telephony. Towards the end of the twentieth century, with the rise of packet switching
Packet switching
Packet switching is a digital networking communications method that groups all transmitted data – regardless of content, type, or structure – into suitably sized blocks, called packets. Packet switching features delivery of variable-bit-rate data streams over a shared network...
—as used on the Internet—and IP-based
Internet protocol suite
The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols used for the Internet and other similar networks. It is commonly known as TCP/IP from its most important protocols: Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol , which were the first networking protocols defined in this...
fiber and wireless technologies, it became possible to design, build, and operate a single high performance network capable of delivering hundreds of services from multiple, competing providers.
Two models
An OAN uses a different business modelBusiness model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
than traditional telecommunications networks. Regardless of whether the two- or three-layer model is used, an open-access network fundamentally means that there is an "organisational separation" of each of the layers. In other words, the network owner/operator cannot also be a retailer on that network.
Two-layer model
In the two-layer OAN model, there is a network owner and operator, and multiple retail service providersInternet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
that deliver services over the network.
Three-layer model
In the three-layer OAN model the physical layer—the fiberOptical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
or wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
—is owned by one company, the operations and maintenance of the network and the provision of services is run by a second company, and the retail service providers provide the third layer.
Applications
The OAN concept is appropriate for both fiber and WiFiWIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
access networks, especially where exclusivity cannot be allowed. The shared maintenance costs make it appropriate for rural areas, where traditional Internet service providers (ISP)
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
may be reluctant to provide a service. Open access networks are also viewed as a feasible way of deploying next-generation broadband
Next generation access
Next-generation access is term used by British Telecommunications describing a significant upgrade to the telecommunication access network replacing some or all of the copper cable with optical fibre...
networks in low population density areas where service providers cannot obtain a sufficient return on investment
Return on investment
Return on investment is one way of considering profits in relation to capital invested. Return on assets , return on net assets , return on capital and return on invested capital are similar measures with variations on how “investment” is defined.Marketing not only influences net profits but also...
to cover the high costs associated with trench
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground. Trenches are generally defined by being deeper than they are wide , and by being narrow compared to their length ....
ing, right-of-way encroachment permits, and the requisite network infrastructure.
In contrast to traditional municipal networks where the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
owns the network and there is only one service provider, the open access model allows multiple service providers to compete over the same network at wholesale prices. This allows service providers to make money in the short-term, and the municipality or cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
to recoup its costs over the long-term. The build-out and infrastructure is typically financed through low-cost bonds.
Open access networks have proven successful in parts of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. One of the best known and most mature OANs is in Västerås
Västerås
Västerås is a city in central Sweden, located on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province Västmanland, some 100 km west of Stockholm...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, a city of about 40,000 homes. The Västerås OAN has dozens of providers, and more than a hundred services available to users. In the US, open access networks like municipality owned The Wired Road in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
have been able to attract both local and regional service providers quickly. This has resulted in the cost of Internet access and telephone service for business users in The Wired Road service area to decline by fifty to seventy percent due to the increased competition between providers. This OAN provides open access transport to any service provider that meets minimum technical and financial qualifications, including allowing existing providers to supply enhanced services, however it does sell services itself and therefore does not compete with private sector providers.
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
also have open-access networks based on fiber to the home. In Australia, the leading open-access provider currently is Opticomm, who have been delivering services to over thirty communities since the mid-2000s. Australia also has the recently formed government owned corporation NBN Co Limited
NBN Co Limited
NBN Co is an Australian government-owned corporation tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network.-Establishment:NBN Co was established on under the name of its company number, "A.C.N. 136 533 741 Limited"...
, who are creating the National Broadband Network
National Broadband Network
The National Broadband Network is a national wholesale-only, open-access data network under development in Australia. Up to one gigabit per second connections are sold to retail service providers , who then sell Internet access and other services to consumers...
to provide open-access fiber to the node at one gigabit per second for more than ninety-three percent of homes and businesses in the country, and fixed wireless
Fixed wireless
Fixed wireless is the operation of wireless devices or systems used to connect two fixed locations with a radio or other wireless link, such as laser bridge. Usually, fixed wireless is part of a wireless LAN infrastructure. The purpose of a fixed wireless link is to enable data communications...
and satellite
Satellite Internet access
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through satellites. The service can be provided to users world-wide through low Earth orbit satellites. Geostationary satellites can offer higher data speeds, but their signals can not reach some polar regions of the world...
technologies with a minimum speed of twelve megabits per second to the remainder of the population.
See also
- Access networkAccess networkAn access network is that part of a telecommunications network which connects subscribers to their immediate service provider. It is contrasted with the core network, which connects local providers to each other...
- Municipal broadbandMunicipal broadbandMunicipal broadband deployments are broadband Internet access services provided either fully or partially by local governments. Common connection technologies include unlicensed wireless , licensed wireless , and fiber-optic...
- Rural InternetRural InternetRural Internet is the access to the Internet from rural areas , which are settled places outside towns and cities. Inhabitants live in villages, hamlets, on farms and in other isolated houses...
- Local-loop unbundling
External links
- NDIX – Dutch/German non-profit fiber OAN
- Irish OAN
- Guifi.net, Catalonia (Spain) OAN-related network
- Northwest OAN
- StockholmOpen.net
- International Network of E-Communities