mer Premises Equipment for esiden tial Broa dban d Networks
Charles Anthony Eldering · 1997
Evolution of telephone networks from narrowband to broadband will require a rethinking of the rules for customer premises equipment. The introduction of a variety of transmission technologies and network interfaces will require that incumbent local exchange carriers and entrants have the ability to deploy and manage equipment to terminate high-speed digital signals. n the telecommunications industry, customer premises equipment (CPE) is defined as all telephone equipment located in the customer's residence. Besides being an essential part of the telephone network, CPE has historical significance in the United States: monopolization of the CPE market was one of the charges levied against the Bell System in 1974 and was an important factor leading to the decision to break up the telephone monopoly in 1982. At the same time, disclosure of the telephone interface became required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and competitive supply of CPE began; ultimately, subscribers were able to purchase telephone devices from retail outlets and connect them direct- ly to the telephone network. This public policy has been adopted by many countries throughout the world. Experience with standardization of the telephone interface and opening of the telephone apparatus market has been pos- itive from the consumer standpoint but provides little guid- ance in the area of broadband CPE, where the network itself is just beginning to be defined, unlike the narrowband tele- phone network, which was stable for decades before residen- tial network interface specifications were mandated by government in 1975. Although there is tremendous uncertain- ty in the broadband world concerning the types of networks, transmission schemes, services, and terminal equipment for new broadband services, it is already clear that there will not be a single proprietary CPE interface controlled by one end- to-end network provider. The narrowband experience with CPE thus offers very little help in answering questions as to how broadband CPE and broadband interfaces should be reg- ulated, or if they should be regulated at all. The wide range of communications equipment which is likely to be found in residences coupled with the various types of access networks which will be deployed does not portend a stable marketplace with well defined interfaces for CPE, but will, at least in the short term, result in a number of in-home devices with different network and terminal interfaces. Devices in the home will include advanced telephony equip- ment, video-related devices, and personal/network computers equipped for high-speed data services. The networks to be deployed include fiber to the curb (FTTC) networks with coaxial drops, high-speed data networks using twisted pair copper drop cables (high-speed digital subscriber line, asym- metric digital subscriber line, and very-high-rate digital sub- scriber line - HDSL, ADSL, and VDSL - referred to here as xDSL), and hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) networks. Wireless architectures for both narrowband and broadband services will play a role in the evolution of the local loop, and although the technological considerations for wireless CPE will be similar to that for wireline networks, the regulatory issues are quite distinct, and for that reason CPE for wireless applications are not specifically discussed in this article. This article presents a perspective on the types of terminal equipment which are likely to be utilized in the residence in the future, the types of access network connections this equip- ment will have, and the regulatory situation with respect to broadband CPE, in light of the history of CPE and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.