April 26, 2006 Washington, D.C. -- The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have announced an updated list of "U.S. Optical Fiber Communities," with the total number rising to 936 communities in 47 states.
According to the updated list, since October 2005: 280 fiber communities were added, and more than four million homes have been passed with fiber, marking a 50% increase in the last six months; and 671,000 homes have been connected, for a 107% increase within the same period.
"These numbers are a big success in terms of public policy," contends Matt Flanigan, TIA's president. "Over the last few years, federal policymakers have recognized the value of removing barriers to next-generation broadband deployment, such as lifting unbundling obligations on FTTH. These decisions are having a very positive effect, although we still have a long way to go to ensure that all Americans have the bandwidth they need for tomorrow's applications. We also need to keep pace with the broadband deployment of other nations, given the competitiveness of the global economy."
"Interest in FTTH is increasing across the board - large and small telecom companies, municipalities, real estate developers, and consumers," adds Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council. "All are recognizing the value of future-proof bandwidth availability, so we expect FTTH deployment to continue to grow dramatically."
The "U.S. Optical Fiber Communities List" is available at www.tiaonline.org and at http://www.ftthcouncil.org/documents/959055.pdf. Prepared by Render, Vanderslice and Associates (RVA LLC), the list tracks communities in the U.S. that are delivering broadband services to residential customers through FTTH technologies.