Less Revolution, More Evolution: Competitive Markets, Copper-Based Broadband Tech, and Lessons for the Future

This article examines the factors that led to the ascendance of copper-based broadband technologies for delivering Internet connectivity in the United Kingdom. The outcome for competing fixed-line technologies such as coaxial cable and optical fiber is considered in conjunction with the role played by strategic and policy choices of regulators and a nascent competition in the telecom market. The article shows that the deployment of copper-based broadband technologies was highly contingent on political expediency, uncertainty surrounding the potential end-user adoption of Internet connectivity, the fragmented nature of infrastructure development post-privatization, and commercial imperatives for British Telecom as competitive market forces took hold. The article correlates these developments with the nascent digital transformation of telecom industry through software-defined networks, network function virtualization, and open radio access network technologies. The article highlights that due to the inherently capital-intensive nature of the telecom industry and the role of end-user demand in competitive markets, the paradigmatic change offered by fiber technologies, or digital transformation of access network infrastructure will be a long-term prospect rather than a near-term outcome.