The total number of homes worldwide that will be reached by next-generation fiber-optic networks will soar to about 86 million in 2011

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

June 19, 2006

4 Min Read

NEW YORK -- The total number of homes worldwide that will be reached by next-generation fiber-optic networks will soar from about 11 million this year to about 86 million in 2011, triggering a potentially massive deployment of a full range of digital and multimedia communications and entertainment services, according to a major new study released today by Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), the market research division of Light Reading Inc. (www.lightreading.com).

FTTH Worldwide Market and Technology Forecast, 2006-2011 delivers a comprehensive global view of the transition to FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) networks, the long-awaited replacement for telecom's century-old copper access networks. The report is based on a detailed analysis of current broadband markets, the shape of demand, and the key technologies.

The report provides a complete analysis of FTTH's current and future market prospects, including:

  • An overview of developments in all emerging fiber markets

  • Case studies of companies that are pioneering FTTH deployments, including KT, NTT, Verizon, and key municipal network builders in the U.S. and Europe

  • A detailed analysis of the two major controversies in the transition to FTTH: active versus passive optical approaches, and incumbent versus municipal network builders

  • A comprehensive assessment of the various factors that will continue to affect FTTH deployments worldwide

  • A complete market forecast that dissects FTTH market growth by region, type of technology, and type of builder

"The transition from copper to fiber access networks is now well underway and will result in the replacement of most copper networks over the next two decades," notes Graham Finnie, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of the report. "Although DSL offers a temporary fix to the ever-growing consumer demand for bandwidth, it will run out of options in the next three to five years, meaning that telcos must begin the transition to fiber soon."

Key findings of the report include:

  • FTTH expansion will be most aggressive in Asia, adding to that region's growing leadership role in deployment of advanced technologies. FTTH growth over the next five years will be dominated by Asia, where the number of connected households will grow to 59 million by the end of 2011. The rest of the subscriber base at 2011 will be split equally between the Americas (mainly the U.S.) and the EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) region.

  • HDTV, next-generation gaming, personal video, and digital photography will all contribute to the emergence of a new broadband "gold standard" of 100 Mbit/s symmetric over the next 12 to 24 months. Although VDSL2 networks can in principle provide such capacity, this is at the limit of copper’s capabilities and will encourage telcos to begin the transition to FTTH.

  • Municipal networks, often built in association with local utilities, will play an important role in stimulating fiber deployment in European and the U.S. However, these networks are unlikely to dominate the market, despite their strong appeal. Incumbent telcos will be the biggest providers in most countries by virtue of their ownership of existing ducts, deployed fiber, customers, engineering know-how, and financial muscle.

  • EPON is the solution of choice in most Asian countries and will dominate overall deployment, but GPON will dominate in the U.S. Active Ethernet and EPON have some support in the U.S., but will remain minority technologies. In Europe, most municipal and utility builders are opting for active Ethernet, which will make it a more important technology there.

FTTH Worldwide Market and Technology Forecast, 2006-2011 is published in PDF format and costs $3,795. The price includes an enterprise license covering all of the employees at the purchaser's company.

For more information, or to request a free executive summary, contact:

Dave Williams
Sales Director, Heavy Reading
858-485-8870
[email protected]

Press/analyst contact:

Dennis Mendyk
Managing Director, Heavy Reading
201-587-2154
[email protected]

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About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software.

About Light Reading
Reaching a core audience of more than 917,000 enterprise IT managers and executives, Light Reading Inc. publishes www.lightreading.com, the leading global content site for the telecom industry; www.byteandswitch.com, a storage networking site; www.unstrung.com, dedicated to wireless networking; and www.darkreading.com, an IT security site. Light Reading is also affiliated with www.heavyreading.com, a market research site offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to carriers, service providers, and vendors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.

About CMP Technology
CMP Technology (www.cmp.com) is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

About the Author(s)

Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

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