Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Update on FTTH deployments

Just updated my private little database on FTTH. Drawing some obvious conclusions:
  • Yes, it's gaining momentum! However incomplete and unscientific the database is, 07Q1 had 33 entries, whereas 08Q1 has 85 (admittedly, I added sources in the meantime).
  • FTTH seems to spread beyond the obvious deployments in wealthy and densely populated Western markets (including greenfields). How about Bangladesh, the UAE, Algeria, North Dakota (which specifically targets rural areas), Virginia and Bronckhorst (NL).
  • The familiar names are roaring ahead (Verizon, Reggefiber). Increasingly, they include new housing developments.
  • Among the largest new developments to keep an eye on are Singapore (3-layer model: NetCo to be announced 08Q3, Opco 09Q1), Athens, Australia (will the FTTN pland be expanded to include FTTH?), Sonaecom in Portugal (serious plans), Versatel Deutschland (are they serious?), H2O Networks in the UK, Austria, Seattle and the ValleyFiber Project (to name a few in the US, which has both telco (Verizon, Citizen Telephone, etc) and muniprojects in the works).
  • State funding is still a conundrum. Of course there are muniprojects, but financing is a tricky matter. Malaysia will simply pay part of Telekom Malaysia's plan; Singapore will plow mony into the passive layer; the New Zealand Institute is in search of an investment vehicle.

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