FTTH vs. DSL a Financial Dilemma for Telcos

According to ABI Research, telcos face a financial dilemma in choosing fiber to the home (FTTH) over DSL. Copper networks continue to be a cash cow for telephone companies, delivering broadband over DSL to more than 367 million subscribers worldwide in 2011. FTTH technologies have 10 times the bandwidth of advanced DSL technologies, but DSL upgrades require a fraction of the investment of FTTH."Strong government initiatives to develop fiber infrastructure have in most cases been a necessary prerequisite to fund FTTH or fiber to the building (FTTB) deployments," said Sam Rosen, practice director of TV and video at ABI.Worldwide, FTTH/B service revenues reached $29.6 billion in 2011.