This paper discusses the benefits of converged multi access networks. The paper considers three main access technologies. They are Cable, Mobility & PON. As these three access technologies evolve, opportunities to evolve the aggregation and edge networks emerge. Newer network architectures offer unprecedented opportunities for Multi Service Operators (MSOs) and Service Providers (SP) in architecting networks, streamlining and simplifying operations, and opportunities to offer new services at reduced cost.
Converged multi access networks also offer benefits for subscribers, as their internet experience will be uniform regardless of the access media/type.
The paper discusses key technology evolutions first. These are enablers for the converged multi access network. It presents the components of the converged multi-access network and discusses the converged architecture while contrasting them to today’s network build outs. The benefits of converging the network are presented and discussed. Finally, the converged network topology is presented. The paper concludes with the benefits of such an architecture to MSOs/SPs and subscribers.