Cost analysis of network sharing in FTTH/PONs

This article examines the cost implications of a network-sharing scheme for different fiber to the home/passive optical network architectures. Varied metrics are employed to understand the effect of a network-sharing arrangement on costs. The results show that for the majority of cases studied, the cost per home connected and the payback period increase when employing a network-sharing scheme, but the initial investment is strongly reduced. The reuse of existing passive infrastructure does not bring any cost advantage in comparison to the standalone scenario, but it helps to reduce the total cost per home connected.