40 Gbps Access for Metro networks: Implications in terms of Sustainability and Innovation from an LCA Perspective

TL;DR

This paper examines the environmental and innovation implications of deploying 40 Gbps optical FTTH technologies in metro networks, emphasizing the importance of regulation and sustainable practices.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for regulating high-bandwidth access technologies by considering both functional and non-functional ICT practices from an LCA perspective.

Findings

Unregulated deployment increases environmental footprint.

Abandoning management-level best practices can hinder innovation.

Regulation can promote sustainable and innovative broadband deployment.

Abstract

In this work, the implications of new technologies, more specifically the new optical FTTH technologies, are studied both from the functional and non-functional perspectives. In particular, some direct impacts are listed in the form of abandoning non-functional technologies, such as micro-registration, which would be implicitly required for having a functioning operation before arrival the new high-bandwidth access technologies. It is shown that such abandonment of non-functional best practices, which are mainly at the management level of ICT, immediately results in additional consumption and environmental footprint, and also there is a chance that some other new innovations might be 'missed.' Therefore, unconstrained deployment of these access technologies is not aligned with a possible sustainable ICT picture, except if they are regulated. An approach to pricing the best practices, including both functional and non-functional technologies, is proposed in order to develop a regulation and policy framework for a sustainable broadband access.