Modelling the Performance of High Capacity Access Networks for the Benefit of End-Users and Public Policies

Abstract: This paper deals with the challenge of modeling the performance of planned ultrabroadband access networks while maintaining technological neutrality and accuracy in measurable quality. We highlight the importance of such modeling also for addressing public funding policies compared to models mainly based on the maximum nominal speed of the access networks, taking also into account the widespread use of measurement tools like "speed test" that have influenced the perceived quality by end-users. We present a performance modelling approach based on the extension of well-known traffic models that accurately characterizes the performance of broadband access networks. We also show how the presented model has been validated with data from two network operators and has been applied to address the recent Italian public interventions for the development of ultrabroadband access networks in market failure areas.