Dileep Kumar
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India is home to approximately 60,000 to 100,000 cable TV operators. Assuming 20 kilometres of cable laid by every operator on an average, India has 1.2 to 2 million kilometres of cable! With digitisation of cable TV, the cable networks are transitioning from coaxial to optic fiber in the last mile. So, with access to so much optic fiber in premises where people live and work, why is digitisation of cable TV still not leading to a large upswing in broadband availability, quality of connections, and consumer use? After all, optic fiber can carry a much larger amount of data and video than coaxial cable can.
What is the Last Mile?
The last mile is called the ‘access’ network. It is called so since this network is accessed by end-consumers. The last mile network stretches all the way from the cable operator’s control room (seen in the picture below to the left) to a junction box (picture below to the right) near the consumer premises.
At the junction box, the electrical signals carried on the optic fiber are converted into RF signals that are then transmitter through coaxial cable for the final few metres to the set top box at the consumer premises.
The missing ‘Middle Mile’
Several last mile ‘access’ networks are aggregated at one point and then connected to the core network. This ‘aggregator’ network is where most challenges arise. Ranging from 0.5 kilometres to 3 kilometres and more in most cases, the aggregator network has to carry large amounts of traffic.
Assuming a requirement of 2 Mbps per TV channel, a typical cable feed will have 400 channels or around 800 Mbps of video at any point in time. If we add any internet or data traffic to this, then the aggregator networks have to carry at least a few gigabits of data every second. Lack of rights of way for optic fiber and very high costs of laying any fiber running into a few lakhs of rupees for every 100 meters make fiber unviable commercially at low cable TV ARPU of Rs 200-300 per home per month. The missing ‘middle mile’ and the resulting adverse effect on monetization of the last mile networks is the bane of the cable TV industry today.
Negative or zero returns on investment on last mile networks and set top boxes is the main reason behind the opposition digitization of cable TV in India has faced.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/cable-tv/msos/new-opportunities-from-cable-tv-digitisation-in-india-150502
India is home to approximately 60,000 to 100,000 cable TV operators. Assuming 20 kilometres of cable laid by every operator on an average, India has 1.2 to 2 million kilometres of cable! With digitisation of cable TV, the cable networks are transitioning from coaxial to optic fiber in the last mile. So, with access to so much optic fiber in premises where people live and work, why is digitisation of cable TV still not leading to a large upswing in broadband availability, quality of connections, and consumer use? After all, optic fiber can carry a much larger amount of data and video than coaxial cable can.
What is the Last Mile?
The last mile is called the ‘access’ network. It is called so since this network is accessed by end-consumers. The last mile network stretches all the way from the cable operator’s control room (seen in the picture below to the left) to a junction box (picture below to the right) near the consumer premises.
At the junction box, the electrical signals carried on the optic fiber are converted into RF signals that are then transmitter through coaxial cable for the final few metres to the set top box at the consumer premises.
The missing ‘Middle Mile’
Several last mile ‘access’ networks are aggregated at one point and then connected to the core network. This ‘aggregator’ network is where most challenges arise. Ranging from 0.5 kilometres to 3 kilometres and more in most cases, the aggregator network has to carry large amounts of traffic.
Assuming a requirement of 2 Mbps per TV channel, a typical cable feed will have 400 channels or around 800 Mbps of video at any point in time. If we add any internet or data traffic to this, then the aggregator networks have to carry at least a few gigabits of data every second. Lack of rights of way for optic fiber and very high costs of laying any fiber running into a few lakhs of rupees for every 100 meters make fiber unviable commercially at low cable TV ARPU of Rs 200-300 per home per month. The missing ‘middle mile’ and the resulting adverse effect on monetization of the last mile networks is the bane of the cable TV industry today.
Negative or zero returns on investment on last mile networks and set top boxes is the main reason behind the opposition digitization of cable TV in India has faced.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/cable-tv/msos/new-opportunities-from-cable-tv-digitisation-in-india-150502
