ELLEN MANNING FTTH ROLLOUT
FULL FIBRE ROLLOUTS: CATCHING UP WITH DEMAND?
It is the backbone of global communications, but in the past it may have seemed that fibre rollouts have struggled to keep up with demand. While fibre to the premises deployments have increased steadily, the demand for the services they provide - from broadband to mobile services - has grown exponentially. But it seems things might be changing, writes Ellen Manning.
L atest figures from analysts Point Topic suggest that global fixed broadband subscribers grew by 2.17% in the third quarter of 2019 - taking them to 1.12 billion. That comes alongside a decline in the number of copper-based lines such as ADSL, suggesting that fibre rollouts are picking up the pace. Point Topic’s figures put the USA and China at the top of the table when it comes to subscribers at 125 million and 400 million respectively. China also showed the largest growth, contributing to East Asia making up nearly half (47%) of all fixed broadband subscribers. That
compares to a fifth (21%) made up by Europe, and 11% by North America. According to the figures, while wireless networks have seen some growth, another area was ‘full fibre’ networks - suggesting that FTTx rollouts are doing what they were intended in terms of connecting people. CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM The industry certainly appears optimistic. In September 2019 a study by America’s Fiber Broadband Association and consulting firm Cartesian predicted that all-fibre deployments would be achievable to 90% of households within the next decade. The study, which looked into costs associated
with deploying all-fibre networks to all households across the US, found that the country is on pace to deploy to about 50% of US households by 2025. The report cited increasing consumer demand for higher performance broadband, provider willingness to focus on long-term returns, and government efforts to lower barriers to deployment costs as contributing to the growth. Speaking at the time, Fiber Broadband Association president and CEO Lisa R. Youngers said: “Building all-fibre networks throughout America is not a pipe dream. We have long known that having access to all-fibre networks is far superior than other
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ISSUE 20 | Q1 2020
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