Fiber to the Home, FTTH | Fiber to the Home, FTTH

Fiber to the Home, FTTH

Fiber to the Home or FTTH is a telecommunications network based on optical fiber.  Traditionally most networks were based on a copper or coaxial cables. Optical fiber networks allow for a high volume of data transfer compared to other networks. This includes TV, internet and phone services (so called tripple play).  Over the last years companies like Verizon and AT&T have deployed fiber networks across the USA. Fiber to the Home, or FTTH, means the fiber runs all the way to your home or apartment, vs e.g. FTTC or Fiber to the Curb where the fiber runs till your curb and the existing copper infrastructure is used for the last yards of data transfer (and hence forming the bottle neck).

Optical Fiber has been used since a long time for long haul communications (e.g. the cables lying on the bottom of our ocean which take care of communications between the continents), however FTTH is a rather new development with high expectations.  Many countries in Asia are leading in the access of FTTH by customers, leading countries are South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. In Europe especially the  Nordic countries are leading.   In the US several companies are deploying a fiber to the home, FTTH, and have started with the most populated areas. The Obama government stimulus package contains incentives for the deployment of FTTH in rural areas. These areas are often served by small rural telecommunications companies.

The future of FTTH looks bright, as consumers require more data due to increase usage of YouTube, downloading of music and movies etc.  However, competition from the traditonal cable companies with the telecommunications companies will become more fierce, as both have entered the same realm of consumer services.

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