As service providers and utilities build out rural broadband networks, an important consideration is the network capacity required in middle-mile rings as the number of subscribers grows and as network traffic continues to increase. ACG Research has built a detailed traffic model that accounts for network traffic driven by bandwidth-intensive applications. Our model accounts for device penetration, application data rates, concurrency, and traffic growth. We project that average rural traffic per household during the busy period will grow from 13 Mbps in 2021 to 20.1 Mbps in 2025. This drives the requirement for 200 Gbps middle-mile rings by Year 2 (2022) and 400 Gbps middle-mile rings by Year 4. It is critical that service providers plan their network architecture to allow for bandwidth growth in middle-mile rings to support  higher capacities. 

Contact Peter Fetterolfat pfetterolf@acgcc.com to developing your business case.