FTTH Now Available to 20 Million North American Homes
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, September 20, 2010 · 
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End-to-end fiber optic networks capable of delivering enormous levels of bandwidth are now available to 20 million North American homes, according to a report released last week by the Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) Council.
The council also announced that 6.45 million households on the continent now receive Internet, television and/or voice services over FTTH networks, an increase of about 650,000 from six months ago.
The precise number of “homes passed” by FTTH networks when the survey data was compiled is 19,966,000, representing approximately 17.4% of North American households, and up from about 18,250,000 homes passed six months ago.
The survey of broadband providers throughout North America, which is conducted by RVA Market Research, found that FTTH networks are continuing to expand beyond Verizon’s $23 billion deployment of its FiOS fiber to the home network, with hundreds of smaller telecoms across the continent now moving forward with FTTH upgrades. Read more
FTTH Satisfaction on the Rise
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, August 16, 2010 · ·
Consumer appreciation of fiber to the home (FTTH) services is steadily growing, according to a new report commissioned by the Fiber-to-the-Home Council. Seventy-one percent of FTTH subscribers report that they are “very satisfied” with their Internet service, compared with 53% for cable modem subscribers and 52% for DSL.
The survey, which also asked respondents to measure and report the speed of their Internet connectivity via www.speakeasy.net, found that average FTTH download and upload speeds continue to stay well ahead of cable and DSL. Based on these reports, FTTH currently has a median download speed of 16.6 Mbps and an upload speed of 4.5 Mbps, 1.5 times faster than cable modem download speeds, and 5.7 times faster than the median DSL download speeds. In terms of upload speeds, FTTH is 3.2 times faster than cable modem and 5.7 times faster than DSL.
But perhaps the most interesting finding is that despite the promise of FTTH services, the majority of consumers still don’t know the difference between a cable modem, DSL or FTTH service. Although 41% of broadband subscribers recognize the term fiber to the home compared to 28% who did so in 2009, this still leaves 59% who are uninformed. Read more
VOTW: The Chasm has been Crossed
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 · ·
And last but not least, our tech video of the week (VOTW), sponsored by Viodi TV. With 16% of U.S. households having access to fiber to the premise, the chasm that separates early adopters from the mainstream has been crossed. In this video interview, Joe Savage, President of the FTTH Council, comments on the deployment figures released this week by RVA Market Research and Consulting. He also comments on Verizon’s fiber plans, as well as those of other U.S. cable and independent operators will affect the near-term rollout of FTTH.
5.8 Million North American Homes Now Have Fiber
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 19, 2010 · ·
As of March of this year, North America boasts approximately 18.2 million homes passed with fiber to the home (FTTH) connections, this according to a new study commissioned by the Fiber to the Home Council.
“Homes passed,” is a confusing term, however, that doesn’t always mean that service is available. As a result, the study found that all-fiber networks are now available for 17 million or 16% of homes in North America, with 5.8 million homes actually subscribing to television, high-speed Internet and/or phone service over these networks. Read more