Fibre - coming to a home near you

Fibre to the home (FTTH) will reach more than 14 million homes in Europe by 2012, research predicts.

Broadband was delivered via fibre optic networks to more than 2.5 million European homes in 2006 - and demand for the high-speed technology is only increasing, according to Frost & Sullivan's Fibre in the Last Mile in Europe report.

Frost & Sullivan research analyst Fernando Elizalde said convergence, high-bandwidth applications and video content are driving up Europe's broadband speed requirements. He called fibre in the local loop and FTTH "future-proof" technologies to meet this demand.

Broadband from A to Z

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A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies

Despite rising interest in the high-speed bandwidth FTTH provides, Europe is still "entrenched" in the slower DSL technology, which uses existing copper networks to deliver broadband to homes, the report said.

Elizalde said DSL is the preferred broadband technology in Europe because it currently delivers sufficient bandwidth to cope with user and application demands.

Yet as bandwidth needs eventually outgrow the DSL-based networks, service providers will need to start looking at deploying fibre to homes and office buildings.

FTTH is making slow and steady progress in Europe with nearly one million users connected.

But the region is still lagging behind other parts of the world with roughly half the number of new FTTH subscribers as North America in the last quarter of 2006, according to analyst house Point Topic.