JULY 30, 2008 � The Fiber-to-the-Home Council (search for the FTTH Council) says that 34 telecom service providers have been approved for the council's network certification program in the effort's first two years. Council certification is intended to help consumers identify which providers are offering 100% fiber-optic connections for delivering next-generation video, Internet, and voice services.
The certification allows certified providers to affix a badge stating "This Home is Fiber Connected" at the subscriber site, and to use the image on the badge in promoting their services. Use of the image signifies that an installation meets the FTTH Council's standard for running fiber-optic cable all the way to the boundary of the home.
"We offer this program to ensure that there is no confusion, and that broadband and video subscribers know that they are getting the quality and bandwidth capabilities that are present only when fiber is run all the way to the home," said Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council. "To go from zero to 34 companies in two years shows how quickly FTTH is growing as a consumer technology."
Savage added that the growing popularity of fiber to the home, along with the high performance and service quality widely associated with direct fiber connections, have prompted some providers that are still using copper in their last mile to claim that they deliver service over what they call a "fiber network."
"While it's understandable that competing video or Internet service providers would want to associate their product with optical fiber, consumers do not get the benefits of a 100% fiber network unless the fiber-optic cable goes all the way to the home. That's why we came up with this certification program and the fiber-connected badge," he said.
Though there are hundreds of U.S. providers offering fiber to the home to at least some of their subscribers, the FTTH Council certified networks connect to an estimated three quarters of all fiber-connected homes in the country, now estimated to be between 3 and 4 million households. In 2006, Verizon became the first company to receive FTTH Council network certification and authorization to use the badge.
According to Savage, not only do direct fiber connections typically mean faster data rates and more robust video services such as high definition and video on demand, but consumers are also future-proofed for the next-generation of Internet services and applications, which are projected to consume many times the bandwidth as today's applications.
The 34 FTTH Council certified providers are: Alpine Communications (Elkader, IA), ATMC (Shallotte, NC), Broadband Associates (Granite Bay, CA), Burlington Telecom (Burlington, VT), City of Wilson (Wilson, NC), City Of Windom (Windom, MN), Columbus Telephone Co. (Columbus, KS), Connexion Technologies (Cary, NC), CTC Telecom, Inc. (Cambridge, ID), Elim Valley Development (St George, UT), Embarq Corp. (Overland Park, KS), Gainesville Regional Utilities (Gainesville, FL), Genext, LLC (Wenatchee, WA), GVTC (New Braunfels, TX), Hancock Telecom (Greenfield, IN), Home Telephone Co. (Moncks Corner, SC), Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Conway, SC), Jackson Energy Authority (Jackson, TN), LBH, LLC (Sulphur, LA), LightNex Communications (Billings, MT), Molalla Communications Co. (Molalla, OR), Morristown Utility System (Morristown, TN), Moundville Telephone Co., Inc. (Moundville, AL), NanoFibre Networks Inc. (Radium Hot Springs, BC, Canada), NCW-Online (Wenatchee, WA), Optical Entertainment Network, Inc. (Houston, TX; the company went out of business last year), Reedsburg Utility Commission (Reedsburg, WI), T² Communications (Holland, MI), UTOPIA (West Valley City, UT), Verizon Services Corp. (Basking Ridge, NY), West Wisconsin Telcom Cooperative (Downsville, WI), WestelFiber (Boise, ID), Xittel Telecommunications Inc. (Trois Rivieres, QC), Zoomy Communications (Glenwood Springs, CO).
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