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Each year, the IEEE Network July/August issue publishes accepted open call papers, and nine such papers are included in this issue. The challenges of deploying next generation access (NGA) networks come from the network architecture and technical options to provide advanced features. The first article, "Architecting a National Optical Fiber Open-Access Network: The Australian Challenge" by Vijay Sivaraman et al., inspired by the ongoing construction of the national broadband network in Australia, discusses the potential challenges of building a nation-wide and open-access optical network, with emphasis on fiber layout and interconnection between the network and service providers. The deployment of NGA is not only a technical issue, but also an economic one. Based on a thorough techno-economic model, the second article, "Risks Associated with Next Generation Access Networks Investment Scenarios" by Dimitris Katsianis et al. evaluates investment risks of NGA for various scenarios. In addition, the authors discuss the effectiveness of the European Commission's Recommendation on regulated access to NGA, targeting to tackle the regulatory trade-off between encouraging investments and promoting competition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article we discuss the challenges faced when building a national optical access network that is ubiquitous (i.e., reaches all households nationwide) and open access (i.e., allows any provider to offer their services over it). Our work is inspired by a public fiber access network being built in Australia called the National Broadband Network (NBN) that will deploy fiber to 93 percent of premises, providing broadband access at potential data rates of 100 Mb/s and above. We highlight how the nationwide open access nature of the network creates new architectural challenges, in terms of both fiber layout as well as interconnection with private providers competing to offer retail services. We identify some of the technical choices related to the support of advanced features such as quality of service, multicast, and reliability, and discuss potential challenges providers may face when rolling out their services in such a network. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]