Fiber-to-the-home networks on the rise

Fiber-to-the-home deployments are increasing at rapid clip as developers and municipal governments begin to embrace the technology, according to the Fiber-to-the Home Council.

A study conducted by Render Vanderslice & Associates for the FTTH Council reported that there are 70 deployed and lit consumer fiber access networks operating today in North America. Most are spread out among rural areas and smaller communities in 20 states, but deployments are expected to shoot up this year as the technology has matured and recent FCC decisions have made the new fiber networks more attractive to incumbent carriers.

For the moment, however, fiber to the home seems to be the technology of smaller entities--municipal governments that want to bring broadband and video to customers out of the incumbent telco’s reach, smaller independents looking for a way to compete with cable and satellite providers, and developers partnering with ISPs or local carriers to make their planned communities more attractive--said Michael Render, president and principal analyst for Render Vanderslice. Many of the networks appear to be concentrated in clusters. For instance, a less populated state such as Kansas boasts eight FTTH deployments, while New York has none.

“Success has bred more success,” Render said. “A lot of these communities see a neighboring municipality trialing the technology, they like the results and they follow with their own deployment.”

Of the build outs, 60% are being used to offer triple play voice, video and data and almost every single network two of the three service options. Render estimated total fiber to the home subscribers will reach 315,000 by the end of the year. By the end of 2004, subscribers in North America are expected to top 800,000. The most surprising statistic perhaps is that 71% of the new builds are overbuilds of the copper plant.

“It’s a common misconception that fiber to the home is only used for new development,” Render said. “People are finding out it’s not as costly to overbuild as they originally thought.”