West River Glen is deciding which network architecture should replace its old copper telephone lines. The town will replace 300 miles of Outside Plant (OSP) cable that will serve approximately 2,500 homes.
The first option is to install a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) system architecture that uses fiber-optic cable to transmit signals from the source to each home. The advantages of this architecture include greater bandwidth capabilities, less signal loss, and slightly lower new-cable deployment costs than the second option. Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC).
An HFC network integrates fiber-optic cables and devices with coaxial cables.
This will cost the town substantially less money for internal equipment and for customer installations. However, the coaxial cable does not last as long as fiberoptic cable and will thus need to be replaced more frequently, resulting in higher long-term maintenance expenses.
The town believes that either the FTTH or HFC architectures will be capable of serving the communities’ data and television needs for the next 30 years.
According to the information provided, which of the following attributes is an advantage of HFC network architecture as compared with FTTH architecture?
A . Lower new cable deployment costs
B . Lower maintenance expenses
C . Greater longevity of coaxial cable
D . 95% lower internal equipment deployment costs
E . 90% lower customer installation costs
Answer: C