The road to the launch of vectoring in Belgium

The road to the launch of vectoring in Belgium

Fixed Access Networks Summit 2014Berlin, April 9th 2014

Reinhard LaroyEngineer Advisor BIPT

Outline

Technology

Regulatory framework

Implementation by operator

Launch of vectoring

2

Technology impact of vectoring

3Source: Alcatel Lucent

Single DSLAM per copper line required

Outline

Technology



Launch of vectoring

4

BE: competition cable-DSL

5

S1 2005

S2 2005

S1 2006

S2 2006

S1 2007

S2 2007

S1 2008

S2 2008

S1 2009

S2 2009

S1 2010

S2 2010

S1 2011

S2 2011

S1 2012

S2 2012

S1 2013

S2 2013

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

DSLCable

Mar

ket s

hare

NGA in Belgium

Belgium has one of the largest coverages of NGA networks in EU:- > 87% VDSL2 end of 2013- 90% Eurodocsis 3.0

Source: Cullen, February 2014

Level playing field copper- cable

7

Docsis 3> 100 Mbps

VDSL<50 Mbps

Regulatory framework 2010

Commission Recommendation 2010/572/EU of 20 September 2010 on regulated access to Next Generation Access Networks (NGA) – Article 29:

“NRAs should impose an obligation of unbundled access to the copper sub-loop. (…)”

8

BIPT decision July 1st 2011

No business case for sub loop unbundling

Vectoring

Low LLU penetration (6% in 2010)

Level playing field with Cable

Vector friendly framework

9

Removal of sub loop unbundling

obligation

Level playing field copper- cable

10

Docsis 3> 100 Mbps

VDSL<50 MbpsVectoring>50Mbps

Belgacom and Alcatel-Lucent pave the way for next generation broadband in EuropeAlcatel-Lucent and Belgacom, the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, are introducing breakthrough innovations to increase access speeds to the Internet.Building on a long history of pioneering innovations, the two companies are introducing the latest state-of-the-art technology to enhance the offering of broadband services throughout Belgium. Thanks to an ambitious joint-development program with Alcatel-Lucent, Belgacom will boost performance over its national triple-play network to provide guaranteed speeds of 50 megabits per second and beyond, setting a new standard of quality for Belgian citizens as of 2014. This will be realised thanks to the world’s first commercial introduction of VDSL2 Vectoring.

Regulation needs to send the right investments signals…

11

Press release Belgacom – Alcatel Lucent 27th September 2011

… but the level of competition needs to be guaranteed as well

BEREC have dealt with this problem in BoR (11) 43 BEREC Report on the Implementation on the NGA Recommendation:

Therefore the regulator might be faced with a dilemma in that he may want to support investment increasing the performance of the VDSL network on the one hand while at the same time allowing competitors to climb the ladder of investment. Such a decision re-quires a careful evaluation of the trade-offs taking account of the specific circumstances (e.g. are more future proof alternatives available that do not hamper passive wholesale products, the degree of platform competition, demand for unbundling)

Pro competitive measures

BIPT decision July 1st 2011 Only bitstream is future proofBitstream should be enhanced enough to allow

OLOs to compete effectivelyOLOs should be able to replicate the

incumbent’s retail vectoring improvements based on bitstream offer: adapt wholesale offer 6 months before the retail launch

13

Enhanced WBA VDSL2 bitstream

14

Internet

OLO BAS

OLOEthernet network

Access Line

End-user LEX

IP-DSLAM

fiber

VDSL2Modem

Copper pair

ROP

KVD

EthernetBackboneR

KVD

ROP

WBA VDSL2 is offering an Ethernet connectivity between the end user and the OLO Access Line (OAL) including multicast

2 types of cross-connect are foreseen C-VLAN cross-connect for residential subscribers S-VLAN cross-connect for business subscribers

2 types of backhaul transport service Shared VLAN Dedicated VLAN

4 QoS priority services defined – Using Ethernet p-bit

Outline

Technology



Launch of vectoring

15

Vectoring linecards Vectoring requires new ISAM cards using a Band

plan of type A: uses frequencies as from 25kHz. New vectoring linecards are not compatible with

ISDN services on the same copper line: ISDN uses frequencies up to approximately 100kHz.

Solution : Decoupling of ISDN & broadband access line

before switching linecards Impact:

Higher access costs Two access lines at end-user

16

Firmware update CPEs

Legacy VDSL2 modems: firmware needs to upgrade to vector friendly : doesn’t counteract vectoring mechanism no speed gain on those lines

New VDSL2 modems: firmware is upgraded to full vectoring full speed gain

17

Bbox-2 (retail)

Bbox-2 (wholesale)

Bbox-3

Firmware update CPEs

CPEs with the wrong firmware version: Limit the spectrum of the non compliant CPE to the ADSL2+ spectrum

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New vectoring profiles

Fall-back profile DOWN: 7.5 Mbps

UP: 512 kbps

Source: Belgacom

Vectoring profiles

Vectoring is automatically applied if a Vector Compliant CPE is detected

Belgacom proposed one vectoring profile for retail & wholesale :

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Downstream• Maximum Net

Data Rate: 70Mbps

Upstream• Target Bit Rate:

6 Mbps

Vectoring wholesale

July ‘13: Belgacom’s proposal to adapt WBA VDSL2 offer in line with the retail offer

OLOs asked for an upstream vectoring profile for business purposes

BIPT approved the addendum and decided on February 19th 2014 that Belgacom needs to develop a new upstream profile within a reasonable timeframe 20

Outline

Technology



Launch of vectoring

21

Belgacom vectoring launch February 2014

22Source: Belgacom Investor Relations Presentation, March 2014

Next steps Upstream vectoring Higher coverage Higher speeds

23Source: Belgacom Investor Relations Presentation, March 2014

The road to the launch of vectoring in Belgium

Technology

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