According to a recent report sponsored by the FTTH Council (Lake Oswego, OR), Telecommunications Industry Association (Arlington, VA) , and Fiber Optic Communities of the United States (Washington, DC), more than 650 communities in the U.S. are now wired with direct optical-fiber connections. The report, released at the fourth annual FTTH Conference held in Las Vegas in October, lists 652 FTTH communities in 46 states, amounting to 322,700 connected homes. By comparison, last year’s report listed 217 FTTH communities and 146,500 connected homes.
According to market researcher Michael Render, author of the report and a keynote speaker at the conference, one reason for the accelerating growth of fiber-connected communities is that the average consumer take-rate for FTTH deployments offering triple-play services has now risen to nearly 50%. Render also notes that many of the FTTH communities listed in the report are indicative of an “exurban” trend that’s taken hold in many parts of the country. The report sees residential developers building 30 to 40 mi away from large population centers to provide home buyers with more affordable options.
The “U.S. FTTH Communities 2005” report is available at www.ftthcouncil.org.