FTTH
BRINGING CONNECTIVITY HOME
KEELY PORTWAY F
ibre deployment is progressing at a rapid pace across the globe. In Europe, according to the FTTH Council Europe’s
most recent Market Panorama figures, a key milestone has been achieved with FTTH/B Coverage in EU39 reaching more than half of total homes. Te market forecast also demonstrated that fibre is expected to be available to 80 per cent of European households within five years, indicating an acceleration of the market. Vincent Garnier, director general at the FTTH
Council Europe, explained that this positive trend can be explained by several factors, highlighting regulation and political objective, and the pandemic as two particular drivers. ‘Te European Electronic Communications
Code (EECC) provided investors with regulatory certainty,’ said Garnier. ‘It gave a long-term political signal by seting out a clear objective for National Regulatory Authorities to promote take up of, and investment in Very High-Capacity Networks, which we understand as FTTH or FTTB. Many regulatory incentives were also created in the EECC for companies willing to invest (e.g. co-investment, wholesale- only model).’ Moreover, explained Garnier, the president
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of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen referred to digital in her State of the Union speech as the ‘make-or-break’ issue, puting fibre and 5G at the core of Europe’s strategy. He said: ‘In its proposal “Path to the Digital Decade”, which spells out targets for 2030, the European Commission’s proposed level of ambition is that all European households are covered by a Gigabit network, with all populated areas covered by 5G.
Regulatory toolbox ‘We believe that the creation of a regulatory toolbox in the EECC to reward investments while safeguarding competition, combined with clear objectives, is a very efficient combination to foster network deployments. Ultimately, the solution will be a genuine mix of private investments which will be complemented by public money from State Aids and the Recovery and Resilience Facility Fund in areas where there is no business case.’ When it comes to the pandemic accelerated
trends, Garnier revealed that during the pandemic demand for connectivity increased, but end-users realised that not any connectivity would answer their needs. ‘Tey started to request reliable ultra-fast connectivity,’ he said,
A look at the state of play for FTTH deployment in Europe and America, and what needs to be done in the next 12 months to meet various governments’ ambitious targets
‘which can only be delivered if it is supported by a robust digital infrastructure such as fibre. Tis surge in demand for full fibre, in turn, accelerated investment decisions.’ But there are still many challenges, not least
in terms of network deployments, sustainability and digitalisation/skills. ‘Te connectivity challenge,’ said Garnier, ‘can be addressed from several aspects. With 45 per cent take-up today, FTTH investments are under-utilised and some measures can help address this next challenge.’ He used the example of the development
of new mass-market services relying on the capacity of full fibre. ‘Tis will trigger subscriptions by end-users,’ he said, ‘and therefore upgrading home connectivity, to avoid bandwidth botlenecks at the edge of the network, is also a key element on which our in-home broadband excellence commitee is currently working on.’
Is it fibre? In addition, avoiding misleading advertising will be important. Garnier continued: ‘Using “fibre” or “fibre speeds” in advertisements for copper-based broadband, when the advertised product is not genuinely based on a full-fibre connection is key. Misusing the word fibre in
Fibre Yearbook 2022
Shutterstock / Krisana Antharith
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