Who Leads the Fiber Revolution? - An Update

Possibly the firmest bridge across the digital divide is built by fine strands of light that serve up the digital universe in micro-seconds. And what better way to build it than bringing fiber all the way to the home?

Still, only a few years ago, ubiquitous "Fiber to the Home" (FTTH) was more a glint in someone's eye than around-the-corner reality. Something gamers and fiber manufacturers dreamed about.

A 2006 summer-visit to my native Sweden gave me cause to reconsider.

The Thousand Mile Trench
Driving north from Stockholm, along much of E4-the highway traversing Europe from Lisbon to Helsinki, and which is Sweden's main south to north artery-all I saw was excavators and tractors busy at work trenching by the side of the road, while other heavy machinery unrolled and lowered into these trenches miles and miles of what looked like, yes-after a closer look-definitely was: fiber, spun out from gigantic wooden spools.

On arrival at my destination I asked the obvious question: What's with all the fiber? Well, what was with all the fiber was FTTH, something high on Sweden's agenda.

Instant conclusion: FTTH has graduated from glint to reality.

Global FTTH Penetration
Is Sweden an anomaly, or is the FTTH drive underway in other parts of the world as well?

A recent survey, jointly published earlier this year by the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Councils of Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, tells the tale: Sweden as an economy, is only 4th in the world in FTTH deployment, trailing Hong-Kong, South Korea, and Japan.

According to this survey, 14 countries now boast FTTH implementations to more than 1 percent of total households-meaning they are connected directly into high speed fiber optic networks (at throughput higher than 100 Mbps/Sec).

This, by the way, is the second such survey conducted by the combined councils; the original one, released last July, reflected only 11 economies exceeding the 1 percent threshold. Since then, Slovenia, Iceland and Singapore have joined this elite broadband group (see graph below).

Year-End 2007 FTTH Penetration

 
Top Five
As shown, the top five countries/economies are (percentage penetration of total households):

•  South Korea - 31.4%
•  Hong Kong - 23.4%
•  Japan - 21.3%
•  Sweden - 7.1%
•  Taiwan - 6.8%

2007 - A Banner Year
Globally, 2007 was the best year yet in terms of numbers of new FTTH subscribers, thanks primarily to strong growth in Japan, China and the United States, where a combined total of nearly 6 million new FTTH households were added.

"This indicates the unrelenting vigor of the FTTH industry here in Europe-where we surpassed one million connections-and worldwide," said Joeri Van Bogaert, President of the FTTH Council Europe. "This phenomenon is driven by something that never seems to slow down, and that is the consumer appetite for ever-higher bandwidth."

The updated ranking also shows that Asian economies continue to outpace the rest of the world in terms of FTTH market penetration, with South Korea moving into the top slot with 31.4 percent of households connected, followed by Hong Kong at 23.4 percent and Japan at 21.3 percent.

A large gap separates third place Japan from fourth place Sweden, where 7.1 percent of homes are now wired with FTTH, followed closely by Taiwan at 6.8 percent and Norway at 6 percent. Denmark, at 2.5 percent occupies seventh position on the chart, slightly ahead of the United States.

"We are delighted to see the U.S. moving up in the global ranking," said Joe Savage, President of the FTTH Council North America. "The future belongs