Several sources from the vendor community asserted yesterday at the FTTH Conference in Dallas, TX, that fiber shortages that had hindered the completion of broadband stimulus fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network deployments have lessened. Delivery schedules are returning to normal, particularly for the larger carriers, the sources indicated.

Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) has deployed Triad B/OSS from Enhanced Telecommunications' (d/b/a) ETI Software Solutions, Inc. to help manage its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Frontier FiOS markets in Oregon, Washington, South Carolina, and Fort Wayne, IN.

OFS has introduced its latest advance for cabling multiple dwelling units (MDUs) as part of a fiber to the premises (FTTP) roll out. The new HomeRun Indoor MDU Cabling Solution aims to simplify installation and connections, thereby making MDU cabling projects faster, easier, low loss, and less expensive.

PON equipment vendor Alphion has introduced the AOLT-4200, a compact GPON optical line terminal (OLT) at the 2012 FTTH Conference and Exhibition, in Dallas TX. The OLT is designed to support both low-cost entry into fiber to the home (FTTH) services as well as sophisticated service offerings for established FTTH network operators.

The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council Americas released at its conference in Dallas its annual update of FTTH progress in North America. There are now 9 million homes connected by FTTH networks on the continent, with the number of homes passed reaching 24.3 million.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it shipped more than 1 million ports of GPON gear in its fiscal second quarter, a company record. Increased demand in in China and the U.S. helped spur the jump in shipments, according to the company.

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) says that it has signed a contract worth up to $38 million over five years to supply Multi-Protocol Layer Switching (MPLS) on Cisco routers and firewalls to support NBN Co's National Connectivity Network (NCN). The NCN is part of the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) effort.

TE Connectivity has announced the availability of its NG4access ODF platform – a new optical fiber distribution frame (ODF), chassis, adapter pack, and cabled module system that delivers fiber connectivity for central offices, head ends, and data centers.

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) says the 726GE-I indoor optical network terminal (ONT) is the latest addition to its comprehensive portfolio of ONTs. The 726GE-I brings RF video capabilities to the suite of Calix indoor ONTs.

Aurora Networks, Inc. has expanded its portfolio of passive optical network (PON) equipment with the introduction of three new PON optical network terminals (ONTs): ONT-G4021-RTN-FRU-C, ONT-E4021i-RTN and ONT-E2424F.

Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPD) has added a pair of new devices to its burst-mode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) family for optical line termination (OLT) equipment. The M02036 is a 1.25-Gbps TIA for GPON applications and the M02035 is a 2.5-Gbps TIA for XG-PON1 applications.

DASAN Networks USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of South Korea’s DASAN Networks International, says it has supplied Benton Ridge Telephone with GPON fiber to the home (FTTH) equipment along as well as Ethernet switches.

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLFD), a specialist in fiber management and connectivity, has released two new fiber management products: Clearview Blue and FieldSmart FxHD. Clearview Blue is the vendor’s latest generation Clearview Cassette with improved density and ease of access, while the vendor claims that FieldSmart FxHD is the highest density fiber distribution system in the industry.

Corning Cable Systems LLC will use the 2012 FTTH Conference & Expo, Sept. 23—27, in Dallas, TX, to show off its latest offerings aimed at fiber to the home (FTTH) multiple-dwelling unit (MDU) applications. The company will display the new FlexNAP Façade and RPDpass indoor preconnectorized system.

Ten cities in the UK will share a £114 million pot of funding for broadband. The investment, announced by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, will help transform the 10 cities into “super-connected cities.” The funding will go towards providing businesses with ultrafast broadband at speeds of at least 80—100 Mbps and improving high-speed wireless Internet access in those cities.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has closed the loop in its 10G-EPON chip offering. The new BCM5553x family of 10G-EPON dual-, quad-, and octal-port single-chip 10G-EPON optical line terminal (OLT) devices now give Broadcom a complete 10G-EPON chip family when paired with the company’s previously released BCM55030 SoC for 10G-EPON optical network units (ONUs).

ZTE Germany GmbH says it has signed a contract with Cologne-based IET Holding for the construction of a new fiber-optic network in Germany. Arising from German-Chinese inter-governmental consultations in late August, a contract has been signed with the aim of expanding broadband services to underserved areas in Germany. Also part of this five-year-long infrastructure project is the upgrade of up to 1.5 million households to high-speed Internet access with transfer rates of up to 200 Mbps.

Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia has tapped Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) to supply point-to-point fiber-to-the-node (FTTN), optical transport, and IP routing equipment for a nationwide broadband network. Alcatel-Lucent says it will be “a major supplier” for the project, which aims to connect 753 municipalities.

NeoPhotonics Corp. (NYSE: NPTN) has announced a multiport Mode Coupling Receiver (MCR) optical line terminal (OLT) transceiver. The SFP optical transceiver is designed to enable operators to maximize the split ratios of GPON fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks.

United Technologists Europe Ltd (UTEL), a research and development laboratory in the UK, plans to launch a new product aimed at minimizing network down time on passive optical networks (PONs) at ECOC 2012. Called Fast Light, it provides a complete system for automating the fault-finding process and carrying out protection switching of optical line terminal (OLT) ports.

CommScope, Inc. says it plans to expand its existing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) offerings with a line of PON equipment that will support both EPON and GPON architectures.

Ovum says in its new “Market Share Alert: 2Q12 FTTx, DSL, and CMTS” report that sales of PON and VDSL2 gear grew strongly in the second quarter of 2012. Within the PON space, a general shift from passing customers to connecting them means that OLT shipments are losing steam, however.

Irish Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, T.D., has launched “Delivering a Connected Society – A National Broadband Plan for Ireland” which outlines the Irish government’s commitment to provide high-speed broadband to every home and business in the country.

Fiber to the home or premises (FTTH or FTTP) deployments have now reached every continent and represent the premier wireline broadband access technology.