Wikipedia

Fiber to the premises

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Centrion (talk | contribs) at 04:00, 22 July 2006 (Reflects the terms "Extreme Broadband" and "3G Broadband" as they appear in Austrialia and the UK, and are have begun to appear in the U.S.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Fiber to the premises (FTTP), Fiber to the home (FTTH), or Fiber to the user (FTTU) refers to a broadband (also refered to as an Extreme Broadband or a 3G Broadband) telecommunications system based on fiber-optic cables and associated optical electronics for delivery of multiple advanced services such as the triple play of telephone, broadband Internet and television all the way to the home or business. In contrast, Fiber to the Node/Neighborhood (FTTN) stops short of delivering and physically attaching a fiber optic cable directly to the home or business. In the near future, Extreme Broadband will deliver performance speeds equalling 100 mbps downstream.

File:Fiber optic bundle.jpg
Optical fibers

Fiber-optic technology deployment costs are decreasing, making this technology a competitor to existing services. KMI Research forecasts that the total FTTP market for equipment, cable, and apparatus will reach $3.2 billion in 2009.

Technology

Two competing FTTP technologies are Active FTTP and PON (Passive Optical Network) architectures. Active FTTP is often termed Active Ethernet.

Active FTTP networks utilize powered (i.e. 'active') electronic equipment in neighborhoods (usually 1 equipment cabinet for every 400-500 subscribers). This neighborhood equipment performs layer 2/layer 3 switching and routing, offloading full layer 3 routing to the carrier's central office. The IEEE 802.3ah standard enables service providers to deliver up to 100 Mbit/s full-duplex over a single singlemode fiber to the premise depending on the provider. Service providers using Active FTTP technologies include SureWest, iProvo, Grant County, UTOPIA, and Broadweave Networks.

PON FTTP networks on the other hand avoid the placement of electronics in the field. PON networks use passive splitters to distribute fiber to individual homes. One fiber is optically split into 16, 32, or 64 fibers (depending on the manufacturer) which are then distributed to residential or business subscribers. In PON architectures, the switching and routing is done at the carrier's central office. Service providers using PON include Verizon (FiOS), AT&T, and several greenfield development networks.

Availability by Country

North America

United States

In the United States, the largest FTTP deployment to date is Verizon's FiOS. Verizon is the only RBOC thus far to deploy FTTP on a large scale.

AT&T (formerly SBC) has deployed FTTP in the Dallas, TX area, including the Richardson, TX neighborhood of Richland Park. The company is currently providing telephone and broadband internet services over fiber to homes in this area.

Broadweave Networks has multiple FTTP installations in new or greenfield communities in the west, including a contract with the Utah State Trust Lands Administration that covers up to 21,000 units in St. George, UT.

EATEL offers FTTP in the Ascension Parish, LA area. Services currently available via their fiber-optic network include telephone, broadband Internet, and television (Video on Demand and regular broadcasts)

Several carriers, municipalities, and planned communities across America are deploying their own fiber networks, including:

Canada

United Arab Emirates

Dubai Internet City, formally Sahm Technologies offer triple play services to properties within the Emaar properties, Dubai Marina, Emirates Lakes, Hills development.

Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city, will be getting its first Broadband Passive Optical Network (BPON) based FTTH network in April, 2006. Nayatel is laying down its single mode fiber (G.652d) based access network and expects to the fiber to be lit by April 15, 2006. Based on Alcatel's Access technology, Nayatel's network will offer triple play (Voice, Data and Video services). Initially, Video will be carried in the 1550nm band and later Nayatel will switch to IPTV. Initial Coverage will be limited to Blue Area as well as the diplomatic enclave. Coverage to F-11, F-10, I-10, F-6, F-7 and F-8 sectors is expected before August, 2006. NayaTel expects 30,000 subscribers by the end of 2006. This will make Islamabad the first city in the region to get FTTH service.

Europe

Netherlands

In The Netherlands in the city Eindhoven and a nearby village called Nuenen there is a large network with 15 000 connections. triple play is offered. Houses and companies are connected with single-mode fibre. The network is owned by the members itself, who did form a corporation. The first European FTTH project was also in Eindhoven in a neighborhood known as the "Vlinderflats". This was a multi-mode fibre but was in 2005 changed to single-mode fibre. FTTH resulted in new broadband services; the inhabitants started their own broadband TV station called VlinderTV.

Denmark

In Denmark the northern parts of Zealand north and west of Copenhagen the Power Company Nesa is providing FTTH to areas where they are laying airborne powercables in the ground, with 100 Mbit/s connection. The services on the FTTH will be provided by external providers. The plan is to have all of these areas provided with FTTH by 2010 and then follow up on those areas that haven't been giving the opportunity during that time.

France

A residential fibre service has been deployed in the 15th Arrondissement (borough) of Paris by Cité Fibre. Bandwidth allocated to each user is 100 Mbit/s with 30 Mbit/s reserved for internet traffic. The package includes Digital Television and VoIP Telephone services along with the above-mentioned unlimited internet starting at 49€ per month. The 15th arrondissement was probably selected for its comparatively high residential population.

The Cité Fibre website also contains an excellent comparison of residential fibre technology with existing Cable and DSL/ADSL.

In June 2006, France Telecom/Orange SA launched a test program for FTTH in some arrondissements of Paris. It proposes up to 100Mbit/s for 70€ a month.

Iceland

In Iceland FTTH deployment has begun by Orkuveita Reykjavikur ( Reykjavik Power Company), they have already begun connecting the towns of Seltjarnarnes, Akranes and parts of Reykjavik, with estimated 50% of Reykjavik connected by 2008 and all of Reykjavik, Seltjarnes, Akranes, Mosfellsbær, Þorlákshöfn and Hveragerdi connected by 2012, other areas are pending an agreement by the city officials. OR only owns the FTTH network; ISP services is provided by HIVE, Skýrr, Vortex and VoIP service is now available from HIVE and video will be provided by other third party providers. As time passes, it is expected that other companies will also take part of OR FTTH network. The monthly cost of having the FTTH in house is 1.990 ISK (approx $26 US dollars) which is a little more then having a phone line in the house which costs 1.340 ISK (approx $18 US dollars); this does not include any services. All FTTH connections are 100 Mbit/s but today ISP services offer speeds of 10Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s and 30 Mbit/s.

Czech Republic

In Prague FTTH (1/10/100 Mbit/s) service called ViaGia provided by T-Systems is available in mostly new houses built by CentralGroup company.

There are some smaller FTTH networks in Brno, Frýdek-Místek and Most.

New Zealand

Telecom New Zealand (dominant telco) is starting a FTTP trial in a new subdivision (Flat Bush) in Manukau city in May 2006. Pricing isn't yet set. Vector Communications provides fiber to premises in very limited Auckland CBD and Wellington CBD for around NZ$329 unlimited per month. You can also get fiber to premises services from Citylink in Wellington - price suggests this is for businesses only.

Australia

Telstra and Optus provide FTTP to many residential premises in metropolitan regions. A connection fee for the wiring to the house is charged, then the user pays for each service separately (Phone, TV, Internet).

Japan

FTTH (often said FTTP in Japan) was first introduced in Japan in 1999, and did not become a large player until 2001. In 2003-2004, FTTH's growth become remarkable, and DSL's growth slowed. 4.63 million FTTH connections (includes 1.99 million FTTX for multifamily housing) are reported in March, 2006 in Japan.

FTTH first started with 10Mbit/s (at end-user rate) PON (Passive Optical Network) by NTT, and 100Mbit/s (at end-user rate) with GEPON (Gigabit Ethernet-PON) or BPON (Broadband PON) is major one in 2006. PON is major system for FTTH by NTT, but some competitive services present 1Gbit/s (at end-user rate) with SS (Single Star).

Major application services on fibers are VoIP telephony, Video-IP telephony, IPTV (IP Television), IPv6 services and so on.

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