The number of Connections represents the total number of users, terminals or lines in use and is calculated as the product of the Customer Base and Penetration.
Customer base
Represents an addressable market, i.e., a group of customers that might take up a service. For example, the
Customer Base of a
CATV service would represent the number of homes passed in the franchise area.
The size of a service’s Customer Base can be defined either as a time series specific to that service or as a reference to a separate Market Segment element. The second technique is especially useful when modelling several services which address the same notional Customer Base.
Penetration
Represents the proportion of customers, identified by the Customer Base, who are actually connected to a service. The Penetration can be specified directly as a time series or as a reference to the Output of a transformation, and may be influenced by tariffs
– see 10.3.32 Tariff feedback to demand.
The number of Connections in year n, cn, is calculated as:
The number of Connections affects the Connection and Rental Revenues, and can affect the Resources Required – see 10.3.31 Tariffs and revenues and 10.3.27 Resource requirements.