deployment allowing local governments to deploy and operate broadband net-
works, and a universal service fund ensuring fair deployment to all communities
regardless of socioeconomic status. It is too early to tell, but the outc ome of
these policy decisions could encourage further spending by carriers if it is favor-
able to them.
10.4 NETWORK ARCHITECTURES
In the past 15 years, global service providers have gradually pushed fiber tech-
nologies farther out from the serving offices and closer to the users. This trend
started with the deployment of Subscriber Loop Carrier systems, which simply
replaced multiple aging copper lines with fiber transport for the first few km from
the serving office. Later, beginning in the early 1990s, CATV operators