Economic Profitability in the Norwegian Fibre-to-the-Home Market

Abstract

In today s modern information society, the need for FTTH is emerging. Other technologies may still cope with most of the challenges, but only FTTH does it seamlessly. Also, for the current bandwidth needs, FTTH has a lot of capacity to spare compared to alternative technologies. Thus, FTTH is predicted to be the next leading solution for access networks.However, the deployment of FTTH is very high cost and actors in the industry are struggling to produce profits. The goal of this Thesis has been to shine a light on factors that influence profitability.The Thesis presents an overview of available access network technology and fibre in the access network in particular. The Thesis continues to review pros and cons of different technologies. A small survey has been performed identifying the choices made by a few Network Operators. The drivers for FTTH is also discussed, followed by a review of two investment analyses.A generic macro level model for the FTTH industry is proposed, showing how actors interact in the market. The proposed model is adapted to model the most common operation schemes seen in the Norwegian market; Franchise and Open Access. A business model ontology is presented and used to analyse a generic actor, the Network Operator, on a micro level in the Norwegian market.It is discussed how the findings throughout the Thesis affects profitability. The discussion has two main areas in regards to profitability; influence by choice of technology and influence by business model. The future outlook in terms of technology and profitability in the Norwegian market is discussed.This thesis concludes that both business model and choice of technology influences the profitability in the Norwegian market. We identify a few factors that are likely to shift profitability in a more positive direction over the next few years.