The Coming Explosion of Fiber To The Home

The Coming Explosion of Fiber to the Home

A silent revolution is brewing. By the time the public hears about it, the revolution will be at full speed like a runaway train. Why should you care? Because people like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and John Chambers intend to get a foothold on this burgeoning market. Companies like Verizon, Motorola, SAIC, Corning, 3M, Broadcom, Cisco, and SBC Communications just to name a few are silently preparing to build the next generation of Internet access. Billions of dollars will be made in the next ten years. Integrators, installers, and structured cabling engineers that position themselves now will be the ones that will reap the financial windfall of FTTH. Those that don’t may not be in business in two years.

Forget Broadband, the next generation is going to be Lightband. With potential speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps (Gigabit) Fiber to the home or FTTH as it is referred to is poised to blow the doors of off DSL, Cable, wireless, and Satellite.

Why FTTH instead of DSL or coaxial cable? Despite the rapid growth of DSL and cable, these offerings are merely stopgap measures for the continued demand for greater bandwidth, and each has its limitations.

Until recently, Fiber to the Home technology has been prohibitive due to cost. In the last year, Optical Gigabit Ethernet equipment has dropped in price to match and in some cases actually fall below costs associated with HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coax) networks. There are currently over 170 PUD’s and Municipalities building Fiber to the Home Networks throughout the United States. Even though the costs for the last mile have dropped, and products that allow these new system owners to earn revenue share are now helping to pay for the systems themselves, there remains one hurtle left -- the last 100 feet.