The access network used to be referred to as the last-mile bottleneck, but is now considered by broadband users as the first mile of differentiation of the operator’s offering. Broadband-access capabilities is a prime source of differentiation for the basic fixed and mobile internet access service, as the ability to add additional broadband enables services such as IPTV, Mobile TV and Multimedia Telephony
When transforming the access network, operators need to consider a number of  strategic opportunities:

• Increase the capacity of the existing fixed-access network to support multiple streams of interactive and High-Definition TV, to create an edge over legacy TV accesses
• Increase the capabilities of  the mobile access to enable a mass-market penetration for mobile broadband services.
• Provide fiber access to new real-estate expansion areas
• Provide wireless broadband access in areas where wired offerings are less attractive from a cost and/or performance perspective
• Meet enterprises’ communications needs with high-speed Ethernet services
• Changes in regulations towards open access environments.

As part of the Full Service Broadband architecture, Ericsson provides a complete suite of wired and wireless access solutions, which allows operators to leverage the combination of HSPA, LTE, VDSL2, GPON and Ethernet access in the same network.