Fiber To The Home

FTTH- FTTC- Fiber To The Home- Fiber To The Curb

The Evolution

Fiber-based networks in general evolved in response to consumer demand for a vast assortment of multimedia services and applications. In order to meet this demand, service providers need a robust, broadband networking solution such as fiber technology, which offers unlimited bandwidth and the flexibility to meet customer demand for two-way, interactive, video-based services.

Today it seems that everyone wants high-speed data, dependable voice service, and high-quality video. Whether these services are delivered by digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modems, or wireless architectures is insignificant as long as the service is fast and dependable.

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Providing these services, however, presents a number of challenges, including how to get lines out to each customer and how to future-proof the architecture put into the ground today. This tutorial will address one possible solution, which is a fiber-optics architecture called FTTH. There are other terms being used by the telecommunications community such as FTTC or "fiber to the curb" -but the term FTTH has overtaken most others as the "final solution" to delivering high speed communicatgions seamlessly over one medium- fiber optics.

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Fiber to the home (FTTH) is the ideal fiber-optics architecture. In this architecture, fiber deployment is carried all the way to the customer's home (premises). Fiber Optic service to the home is the fastest, most reliable and secure method and far surpasses anything that Broadband or "wireless" could ever even dream of. Many people never know that today's vast cellular and wireless network runs and "communicates"via a fiber optic backbone. This is the only way such vast amounts of data can be transported from caller to caller -quickly and securely.

FCC Gives Go-Ahead to Incumbents on Deep Fiber Buildouts
The FCC took action to relieve incumbent local telephone companies of most obligations to lease advanced fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network facilities to competitors at a regulated, cost-based price. Specifically, incumbents are relieved from unbundling requirements for fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) loops, where fiber is extended within 500 feet of a customer’s premises. The new rules free companies to choose between FTTH or FTTC networks based on marketplace characteristics, rather than disparate regulatory treatment.

NEW NEWS ! The FCC also clarified that incumbent LECs are not obligated to build time division multiplexing (TDM) capability into new packet-based networks or into existing packet-based networks that never had TDM capability.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell said "By limiting the unbundling obligations of incumbents when they roll out deep fiber networks to residential consumers, we restore the marketplace incentives of carriers to invest in new networks. "

In a dissenting statement, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wrote "Though today’s Order speaks in glowing terms about broadband relief, the reality is far less radiant. I don’t believe competitive telecommunications have been faring very well under our watch and this particular proceeding strikes me as yet another in a series of prescriptions this Commission is willing to write to end competitive access to last mile facilities. It seems every month brings a new onslaught.. The loop represents the prized last mile of communications. Putting it beyond the reach of competitors can only entrench incumbents who already hold sway. Monopoly control of the last mile created all kinds of problems for basic telephone service in the last century, and now we seem bent on replicating that sad story for advanced services in the digital age."
http://www.fcc.gov
14-Oct-04

In its Triennial Review Order released last year, the FCC ruled that the broadband capabilities of fiber loops that extend to a customer’s premises, also known as FTTH loops, would not be subject to unbundling under section 251 of the Act.
In August 2004, the FCC issued an order clarifying fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) rules and relieving the incumbent LECs from certain unbundling obligations that apply to multiple dwelling units (MDUs), or apartment buildings. The FCC said its ruling increases the incentives for incumbent LECs to deploy next generation facilities. The order concludes that determining what constitutes a predominantly residential MDU will be based on the dwelling’s predominant use. For example, a multi-level apartment building that houses retail stores such as a drycleaner or a mini-mart would be predominantly residential, while an office building that contains a floor of residential suites would not. The Order further clarifies that a loop will be considered a FTTH loop if it is deployed to the minimum point of entry of a predominantly residential MDU, regardless of the ownership of the inside wiring.

Definition and Overview
1 Introduction
2 Evolution of FTTH
3 Meeting Today's Needs and Anticipating the Future
4 How FTTH Works
5 The Advantages of FTTH
6 Level of Penetration and Acceptance in the Market
7 The Future of FTTH
8 FTTH Suppliers