* Consultant Eric Pearson details why copper will win over fiber
Out of the many responses I received on the topic of fiber vs. copper to the desktop, one response stood out. That’s because it’s from a longtime proponent of fiber – and yet, it’s not the response you’d expect.
Eric Pearson is president of Pearson Technologies in Acworth, Ga., and describes himself as “a fiber optic consultant with 28 years in the industry.” Pearson’s firm created the online cost model for determining fiber and copper-based infrastructure costs, which I highlighted last year.
In responding to my recent article on desktop wiring, Pearson was kind enough to send a very well-thought-out e-mail message that seemed to reflect an acceptance of the fact that fiber to the desktop (FTTD) will never become dominant. Here’s what he had to say:
“There are five factors that do not favor FTTD.
“First, the UTP proponents will never give up. They will continue to use favorable arguments that have been true or may be partially true but may not be true in the present. They will reinforce the myths and misconceptions that people have about fiber optics [fragility and expense]. And the decision maker will agree with the myth, because it fits with his understanding. I see this in the articles the UTP proponents write for trade journals.
“I say this in spite of the FOLS cost model work that demonstrates that new builds and other situations (fiber to the zone) can have an initial installed cost for FTTD that is lower than that for horizontal UTP vertical fiber, which is the dominant topology.
“Second, large switch manufacturers have a vested interest in retaining the UTP topology, since in enables them to sell more ports than they would sell with a fiber-to-the-desk topology. The port utilization comparison is: FTTD, 90%, and UTP, 70%.
“Third, there is no pure fiber-optic company with the market clout to direct the marketplace into FTTD. TYCO and 3M are fiber companies. TYCO has a copper business, which it will not risk by favoring fiber. TYCO is not alone in this situation. 3M is not a pure fiber company and can float with the market. Corning is a pure fiber company, but does not have the resources to drive the market to its vision.
“Fourth, the architects and engineers of the world are locked into the UTP model of TRs on every floor. They seem to unaware of the cost impact on the network of their building design decisions (Again, see the FOLS cost model)…
“Finally, there has been no industry organization of competing companies to present a unified front to the marketplace, as there has been with Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, wireless and others. Without such a unified front, competing manufacturers must present competing fiber arguments to the customer, who has no uniform and consistent understanding of the benefits. Imagine World War II with the U.S., Britain, France fighting separate and uncoordinated battles with the Germans.
“On a separate issue, I do believe that there is a fear of fiber. In one conversation, I did a ‘back of envelope’ cost comparison of FTTD to the expected cost of a network in a multi-story university building in the South. I generated the FTTD cost. The network manager provided his UTP costs. This network manager took this comparison to his boss, who outright rejected consideration of a topology that offered an initial installed cost that was less than that the UTP topology. The boss would not even consider fiber, even though the argument was of reduced cost.
“In another case, I recommended incorporation of the FOLS model into a well-known network design training program. The instructors recommended against including this model. They stated that their attendees/market did not want to know about fiber network design and that there were more important subjects to include than the cost analysis that would show how to reduce network cost through use of FTTD.
“In short, much to my professional regret, I do not believe that fiber to the desk will become a dominant technology.”
Many thanks to Eric Pearson for his insights. Next time, I’ll give the last word on this debate (for now) to a start-up company that’s not quite ready to give up on fiber.
