Worldwide FTTH Deployments to Surge Over the Next Five Years, New Study Finds

Fiber-to-the-home networks will reach more than 85 million homes by 2011, representing 5% of all households, Heavy Reading forecasts

PRNewswire
NEW YORK
Jun 19, 2006

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 (http://www.heavyreading.com/), the market research division of Light Reading Inc. (http://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
  dave.williams@heavyreading.com

  Press/analyst contact:
  Dennis Mendyk
  Managing Director, Heavy Reading
  201-587-2154
  mendyk@heavyreading.com

  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 http://www.lightreading.com/, the leading global content site for the telecom industry; http://www.byteandswitch.com/, a storage networking site; http://www.unstrung.com/, dedicated to wireless networking; http://www.darkreading.com/, an IT security site, and http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/, covering the cable industry's evolving communications infrastructure. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.

About CMP Technology

CMP Technology (http://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 (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

SOURCE: Heavy Reading

CONTACT: Dave Williams, Sales Director, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com; or Press/analyst contact - Dennis Mendyk,
Managing Director, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com, both of Heavy
Reading

Web site: http://www.lightreading.com/
http://www.heavyreading.com/
http://www.byteandswitch.com/
http://www.unstrung.com/
http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/
http://www.cmp.com/
http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/