Copper Can Be Better?

Copper has suffered a bit of stigma over the years. Reasons vary, and are mostly well known (cost to deploy, cost to maintain, overall bandwidth, and even theft and recent disincentives to customers). That's a little unfortunate, because ironically, copper technology is the best its ever been, in some cases even rivaling moderate fiber speeds. There are also still millions of homes which do not yet have service from fiber or high-speed wireless. Many important infrastructure services also still rely on copper, regardless of weather conditions, congestion, or fiber cuts.

What sort of advantages does copper really offer?

1. It's everywhere. Billions of dollars of it. The rights-of-way for copper runs have also existed for decades, helping to prevent impacts to the network from dig-ups and cuts, while speedy fiber deployment has sometimes meant that it wasn't always buried deeply enough. Refurbishing and maintaining smaller regions, with limited bundles of pairs, can be relatively easy work, as equipment and skills are still plentiful.

2. Copper is a conductor. It inherently can send both duplex communications and electrical power at the same time, a key feature for survivable communication systems.

Yes, it would be nice if the customer could provide their own uninterruptible power supply, so the telco doesn't have to provide power. Yet, no other utility service can offer this feature (traditional cable operators do offer a powered signal, but it is not used to power customer equipment like a POTS landline, and it often requires additional power at the prem to keep the signal usable).

Not that we are saying anyone should pick a copper circuit over a 1G-to-the-prem fiber connection, but where that isn't possible, modern ADSL2+ and VDSL2 technology can provide real-world speeds between 25-100Mbps+, even over relatively long loops and in the presence of crosstalk. What's more, most xDSL systems can be deployed with minimal planning, power, or expense, often just requiring a small cabinet and single-phase 120V AC power source. If you need to move equipment 2 or 3 miles closer to the customer for better speeds, it isn't hard to do, being able to repurpose existing cabinets that are closer to the access point.

Of course, then there are the special services like FAA radar circuits, water pumping stations, hospitals, schools, and alarm monitoring circuits, to name a few of the circuits that aren't always easy to replace with fiber or wireless, even if such alternatives exist. Unfortunately, fiber cuts are still all too common, and many of these end users know it.

Upgrades to the fastest technologies are understandable, desirable, and given some time are inevitable. Newer options exist such as SpaceX's StarLink®, and more like Amazon LEO are coming, but these are usually at a different price point than typical communication utilities have been set, plus they can suffer from higher latency or signal degrades.

If fiber or wireless are the best options, go for it. But in the meantime, don't let stigma cause you to give up on copper so quickly, with the billions of dollars of infrastructure already in the ground and on poles, which are increasingly being left dormant as a wasting asset. In many cases, all it might take is a relatively small investment to maintain a few good pairs to supply a small region of users with decent connection speeds, plus the lifeline services needed by both residential and business users. In many cases, its either this or loosing the neighborhood to a competitor, shrinking your company's reach and size.



Usable DSL from 2026 On

Whether you are trying to provide service to a remote region, or keep competition from eating in to your territory, xDSL deployments can keep customers happy and provide surprisingly good data rates, plus they have also dropped in price. A fiber-fed DSL cabinet can easily house hundreds of customers at 20-100Mbps rates, for a fraction of what it cost a few years ago. Customers in remote regions already have copper to the prem, yet where fiber-to-the-prem isn't cost effective. Why not consider a small, inexpensive DSL shelf to the last mile or two?

Below we show several offerings from equipment vendors which we know well, and have deployed ourselves. Any of these systems can be dropped-in place quite literally within hours, with the largest delays due more to permitting and work schedules.