FTTH Councils release universal definitions for FTTH and broadband access terms

OCTOBER 5, 2006 -- The Fiber-to-the-Home Councils of Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America have announced completion of a new resource to provide worldwide standardization of terminology used in the FTTH industry. The FTTH Council - Definition of Terms is the result of collaborative work between the three Councils. The document provides definitions for commonly utilized industry terms describing access network terminology.

"As the industry has grown, so has the optical fiber terminology in use among FTTH professionals, analysts, and journalists," explains Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council North America. "It has become increasingly more important to know that when a term is used, it means the same thing--whether you're deploying in Canada, Japan, or Germany."

FTTH Council Asia Pacific president Shoichi Hanatani agrees. "It became difficult to compare industry research on different regions or between different studies of the same region," he reports. "The industry needs a reference tool that provides common definitions for terms used on a global scale. It was a very good exercise for all three regional organizations to compare notes and to come to agreement on definitions for these terms."

Hartwig Tauber, president of the FTTH Council Europe, believes the document will be a great help to anyone doing research or writing white papers for the industry. "Finally, there is a go-to resource that provides a common ground for understanding various elements of the FTTH industry," he says. "Whether it is a definition of FTTH itself or what we mean by a network, this document will enable everyone to talk the same language, no matter what country or region they are from."

As a result, the FTTH Council -- Definition of Terms provides precise terminology used throughout the world. Professionals writing white papers or conducting market research will have global definitions for terms such as fiber-to-the-home, fiber-to-the-building, cable plant topology, and more.

The FTTH Council - Definition of Terms may be downloaded at www.ftthcouncil.org,Iwww.europeftthcouncil.comIand www.ftthcouncilap.org.