Quels sont les principaux facteurs de croissance des réseaux de fibre optique dans les marchés émergents ?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing industries and our day-to-day lives by creating interconnected ecosystems. From smart cities and healthcare innovations to connected homes, IoT is driving transformative changes worldwide. This exponential growth in connected devices inturn calls for a significant expansion of fiber optic networks to handle the scale, performance and stability.

In emerging markets, the fiber optic crescendo thrives on the insatiable demand for broadband. It's more than connectivity; it's a digital revolution, knitting communities, businesses, and aspirations into a high-speed symphony, propelling these markets into the future.

The primary catalyst driving the expansion of fiber optic networks in emerging markets is the escalating demand for broadband services, particularly from both residential and business clientele. Broadband services play a pivotal role in providing access to a diverse array of online applications and services. These services collectively contribute to heightened productivity, increased convenience, and an overall improvement in the quality of life for users.

Capital Investment is a key factor, which in turn is facilitated by: Country political stability, monetary policies, GDP growth, capabilities of local telco players, geographical challenges

Broadband should be approached like infrastructure for electricity or water. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the case for reliable, ubiquitous broadband is not just economic, but now existential and essential. Demand for broadband can be better understood when defined in terms of current, latent, and potential demand. Understanding this demand and how individual industries use cases can be influenced is foundational to building an economic case for investing in broadband and digital infrastructure and fiber optic .

Majority of cellular towers in many emerging markets still use microwave backhaul which has capacity limitations. 3/4G customers connected with cellular towers generate high volumes of data traffic which requires fiber optic backhaul. Tower fiberisation or fiber to the tower (FTTT) is hence becoming a major driver for growth of fiber optic networks in emerging markets.

Not every tower/site needs to be connected by fiber in countries like Pakistan, fiber core architecture with multiple redundancies, compact aggregation layer 1 fiber rings with fiber moving closer to site slowly is sensible. Already mobile operators are doing fiberization with focus on gold sites. Fiberization though is now a priority for all mobile operators however their focus on increase of revenue is vital. Bodies like USF along-with service providers are now working towards fiber access in every govt administrative unit. There is strong need to add B2B and B2G requirements so the burden of development is controlled towards consumer end. With USF subsidising and giving massive support for remote area expansion, this is important.

Another factor other mobile tower backhaul uplink requirement , corporate and consumers apps also required very high bandwidth which copper or wireless access network cannot meet this without fabrization . Fibre being futuristic network will cope with latency and scalability issues

With immense growth of FTTH Network where fibers connectivity is reachable to every street. With XGS-PON Back hauling along with Type-C dual homing can help to cope with BW chocking as well as have a resilient Network Structure for Mobile Towers.

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI), global mobile data traffic was projected to grow significantly. In the forecast, it was anticipated that by 2023, global mobile data traffic could reach 77.5 exabytes per month. The demand for higher data speeds and lower latency, especially with the advent of 5G, increases the need for robust backhaul networks. Fiber optics, with their high capacity and reliability, become essential for efficiently handling this surge in traffic. The deployment of 5G networks further intensifies the demand for fiber optic infrastructure. 5G requires more cell sites and increased connectivity between these sites, relying on robust fiber networks for efficient data transfer.

The developments in DWDM space is also contributing towards reducing the cost of operations of Fibre Optics network. The cost per Gb is coming down with time, making it more affordable.

The main driver for cost reduction is rather the mutualisation of existing infrastructure (poles, ducts). Now, cost of active equipment can also be a burden, depending on the country. In which case, tax (especially import ones) are probably a more important matter than volumes.

The growing need for bandwidth is the main factor driving the growth of the passive optical networks market. Consumers, businesses and the exponential demand in IoT demand faster and more reliable networks and this is only possible with fiber optics. Another growing demand is video streaming and other bandwidth intensive applications.

The access to high-speed internet is an essential element for socioeconomic development. Various international organizations use the indicator of "accesses per 100 inhabitants" to help measure economic growth, productivity, quality of life, and social well-being of a country, state, region, or city. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) utilizes this indicator to monitor gaps between economies, much like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is the specialized UN agency in information and communication technologies. It is crucial to monitor this indicator and develop initiatives to ensure that broadband is available to all, as it is fundamental for the future of our country.

Policymakers and regulators should lead to increase focus on fibre-optic networks which have the advantage over other traditional telecommunications access networks for customers and businesses. They should enable the operators and players in the sector to make investments and grow fiber optic networks.

Attention needed to utilize unused and unlit capacity (dark fiber). Duplicating is not economically sensible as it requires major new civil engineering work in all areas.

Another driver for fibre optic growth in emerging markets is the integration of smart city technologies. As these regions urbanise, fibre networks become the backbone for IoT devices, intelligent traffic systems, and efficient energy management, fostering sustainable urban development and offering residents enhanced connectivity and services.

A lack of infrastructure-based competition (with adequate regulatory / open access framework) can actually enable further coverage with fibre technologies, especially in the access segment. This is not in contradiction with innovative offers by service providers either, as characteristics of services mostly depend on active equipment.

This is one of the significant factors for Brazil. In 2013, only five operators dominated 90% of all fixed broadband accesses in the country. However, a decade later, this scenario has changed dramatically, and now it is necessary to bring together 832 operators to achieve the same concentration of accesses. This change is due to the acceleration of competition, and these new operators have adopted superior technologies such as fiber as the main access medium, while the market-leading operators continued activating using coaxial or metallic cable. The evolution here is the result of the efforts of operators that are bringing fiber to every places of Brazil, helping drive the transformation and the new digital economy.

In developing countries, establishing a well-planned fiber network faces significant hurdles, primarily due to theft, right-of-way issues, and the absence of comprehensive policies and effective policing. These challenges directly impact service quality and user satisfaction. Operators often grapple with addressing these issues independently, as government initiatives may be insufficient. To ensure the robust functionality of their networks, operators must navigate complexities like theft prevention and negotiate right-of-way obstacles, emphasizing the need for a collaborative effort between operators and government entities. Comprehensive policies and effective law enforcement become pivotal in safeguarding fiber infrastructure.

Rising demand for high-speed internet due to increasing smartphone and internet penetration is a key driver for fibre optic network growth in emerging markets. Government initiatives for digital inclusion and infrastructure development also play a crucial role alongside foreign investments and collaborations to enhance connectivity infrastructure. These factors collectively accelerate the deployment and expansion of fibre optic networks, facilitating improved access and digital opportunities.

Here one important thing I think missing is high speed internet required for AI & Big Data applications & algorithms. AI & AGI algorithms need excessive customer/user data for processing and effective decision making. So, fiber optic network is inevitable to feed these data hungry intelligent networks.