February 22, 2006 Washington, DC -- The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have announced new estimates showing FTTH deployments currently passing over 3.6 million U.S. homes, an increase of almost 1 million homes in four months, according to the organizations.
"Typically, telecom construction slows in winter months," comments Michael Render of market research firm Render, Vanderslice, and Associates, which prepared the estimates. "To see acceleration at this time of year indicates increased preference for FTTH as an infrastructure of choice."
The figures, released prior to the FTTH Council's quarterly meeting in Washington, DC next week, show the most rapid growth of FTTH deployment to date, with more than 230,000 additional homes passed every month. The figures also show acceleration among homes connected by FTTH, which normally lags homes passed by several months, say the groups. Over the last four months, the estimate shows, homes connected with FTTH have increased by 70%, to 548,000 subscribers from 322,000.
"FTTH deployments are increasing across all market segments," says FTTH Council President Joe Savage. "Large communications companies, rural telephone cooperatives, real estate developers, and municipalities are all turning to FTTH."
"This is a good sign, but we have to keep it up," adds TIA President Matt Flanigan. "The nations that build extremely fast networks will gain very significant advantages. The United States must win the bandwidth race."
Both organizations say they have urged policymakers to reduce barriers to next-generation broadband deployment, by streamlining cable television franchising processes and allowing municipalities to build broadband networks.