Virtual Unbundled Local Access (VULA)
Virtual unbundled local access is a regulated wholesale fibre product that gives competing providers a virtual connection over the incumbent's fibre access network, handed over at or near the local exchange.
What is Virtual Unbundled Local Access (VULA)?
VULA is the fibre-era replacement for physical unbundling. Copper lines can be physically reconnected to another provider's equipment, but shared fibre networks generally cannot. Instead, the incumbent provides a dedicated virtual link from the customer to the competitor's equipment at the exchange. In the UK this is Openreach's Generic Ethernet Access (GEA) on FTTC and FTTP. For FTTC the DSLAM is part of the VULA product; for FTTP no DSLAM is needed.
How it works
The access seeker interconnects just behind the local access node and supplies its own service routers, BNG or BRAS equipment beyond that point. This gives it more control over service quality and features than bitstream, while saving it the cost of building its own access network.