- 26 April 2006 -

FTTH boom ahead?

Research and Markets's new work 'FTTX Concepts and Applications' says that companies such as Verizon, SBC, and Bell South plan to spend several billion dollars on new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) in the next few years and already have started the proposal process for that.

A sign of things to come is Verizon's allocation of $1Bn for FTTP in 2004. In addition, many organizations in Europe and Asia currently are implementing such networks, as was described by various papers at OFC.

R&M reckons this is the only book on the market that presents a complete view of passive optical networks. The topics range from the underlying principles and components of optical fibre communication links, through descriptions of fundamental PON types and operations, to their application to FTTP networks, and finally to essential measurement and test procedures required during network installation and maintenance.

The ever-growing requests for more bandwidth from applications running over the Internet are driving the need to upgrade access networks with high-capacity connections. This book presents fundamental PON concepts, providing readers with the tools needed to understand, design, and build these new access networks. The logical sequence of topics begins with the underlying principles and components of optical fiber communication technologies used in access networks. Next, the book progresses from descriptions of PON and fibre-to-the-X (FTTX) alternatives to their application to FTTP networks and, lastly, to essential measurement and testing procedures for network installation and maintenance.

For more information visit www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c35922

Meanwhile, recently released statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveal that the number of broadband subscriptions throughout the OECD continued to increase in 2005 from 136 million in June 2005 to 158 million by December 2005. Leading countries were Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark, each with more than 25 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Japan leads the OECD in FTTP with 4.6 m fibre subscribers at the end of 2005. It is interesting to note that fibre subscribers alone in Japan outnumber total broadband subscribers in 21 of the 30 OECD countries.

Finally, Alloptic, Inc., the Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (GEPON) specialist, said that they have been selected for a new master-planned community - Huka Falls Resort located near Huka Falls in Taupo, New Zealand. The fibre optic communication network will provide voice, data, and video service to the residents.

"The economic and bandwidth advantages of GEPON FTTH have been clearly established. The real dividends from deploying FTTH today have become apparent as conventional copper lines 'run out of steam' due to the rapidly growing demands for bandwidth," said John Nixon, CEO of Optical Network Engineering, Ltd. "As developers lay out new resorts and communities, they need to ensure that the communications infrastructure is capable of supporting the digital lifestyle of the residents who will inhabit the community. Alloptic has demonstrated an ability to provide communities both a robust infrastructure as well as a marketable amenity value per home. We expect the amenity value to approach US$15,000 per home based on our target market."

Web: www.alloptic.com