New data show rapid FTTH growth

Despite the slowdown in fiber deployment that typically occurs over the winter months, fiber-to-the-home deployment in North America continued to surge in the past six months, according to new data from researchers Render Vanderslice and Associates.

The number of homes passed by FTTH in North America topped 1.6 million in April, according to Render Vanderslice, more than eight times the 189,000 reported in March 2004. Nearly 650,000 homes were added between September 2004 and April 2005 alone, despite the typical slowdown in fiber deployment caused by winter weather and other factors. The number of homes to which the service is being marketed, though not as high, has also grown rapidly. In April 2005, FTTH service was marketed to 829,700 homes in North America, roughly double the number reported in September 2004. And the number of homes connected to FTTH reached 198,000 in April, a 35% increase since September and a 154% increase since March 2004.

The number of communities in the U.S. in which residents currently receive FTTH service has grown 83% since October 2004, according to Fiber Optic Communities of the United States, or FOCUS, a nonprofit group dedicated to FTTH education. As of April 2005, there were 398 such communities in the U.S., more than triple the 128 communities that existed a year earlier.

The recent surge in FTTH growth follows a sudden spurt in the middle of last year, when the number of homes passed by FTTH shot up 413% in the six-month period ending in September 2004.

FTTH is being deployed by a mix of providers, none of which is dominant, Render Vanderslice said. In fact, the three largest FTTH deployments in the U.S.--in terms of connected homes--are served by three different types of providers. The Dallas/Fort Worth, Tx., area was the site of Verizon Communications' FTTH deployment launch in May 2004. In the Jackson, Tenn., area, the local municipal utility offers triple-play service through FTTH. And the Sacramento, Calif., area is served by competitive local exchange carrier SureWest Communications.

Though FTTH is often viewed as a primarily greenfield application, as it is for BellSouth and SBC, about 80% of the current deployments are overbuilds, Render Vanderslice said. And take rates vary from 20% to 95%.

Although FTTH is growing rapidly in North America, it is dwarfed by deployments in some other countries. Japan's 2.3 million homes connected and Europe's 547,000 homes tower over the less than 200,000 homes here.