New research
by consulting firm BroadGroup reveals that dark fibre growth
continues to be sustained in European metro markets, but will be
faster and more substantial in Central and Eastern Europe.
An update of a report from 2005, the new European study
reaffirms the
continued expansion of dark fibre in Europe, with steady growth
averaging at 8% per annum, continuing through to 2012. BroadGroup
says that the boom and bust approach to new network deployment has
vanished, and has been replaced by an air of caution with
speculative fibre build out being kept to a minimum and mainly
focused on the access part of the network to the customer site in
metro markets.
What the analysis firm says is the most strikingly feature of
its report is evidence that dark fibre is becoming a service of
choice for an increasingly large number of companies, and is
emerging as a marketplace of opportunity, rather than its former
image as an arcane and inaccessible part of the network. BroadGroup
says that new players see it as a service to sell to enterprises
and other operators, rather than a strategic asset to retain.
“The contrast between western markets, and those in the east
reveals something of the divide,” commented Steve Wallage, managing
director at BroadGroup Consulting. “Equipment suppliers and
operators should be leveraging the current opportunities which will
provide strategic assets for the future. However regulators need to
move more quickly to open markets to altnets without whom broadband
connectivity will leave the significant customer base under
served.”
Research for the report suggests that, in some instances, dark
fibre is more prevalently perceived as a tactical deployment, as
investment focuses on network upgrades to engage in future triple
or quad plays. WiMAX, rather than dark fibre, is also recognised as
a cheaper way to bypass the local loop, according to the report.
NRENs are driving demand for dark fibre across the entire region
compared to enterprises.
However, BroadGroup predicts that much is forecast to change,
and future opportunity for dark fibre will emerge as more
strategic. In the first instance, BroadGroup says that it has
identified a clear need to elevate dark fibre from its perception
as a raw unmanaged capacity to a quality longer term investment,
that delivers a range of standard and premium managed services.