'Fiber to the Home' soon to become 'Fiber to Every Home' by 2010, predicts Aspen Optics

FTTH (Fiber to the Home) will soon become FTEH and FTTO (Fiber to the Office) will also become FTEO (Fiber to Every Office) as standard for new construction in many developed countries by 2010. Aspen Optics is a fiber connectivity products provider for global telecom operators and system integrators.

In September 2002, the first Fiber to the Home network project in the UAE went live to offer optical broadband network to subscribers in developments such as Dubai Marina, the Arabian Ranches, Springs, Emirates Lakes by Emaar Properties.

Now nearly all residential and commercial properties under construction in the UAE by leading developers are fiber ready. Dubai may probably become the fastest city in the world to implement Fiber to Every Premise (FTEP) for all new property construction. The Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower, is likely to contain the world's longest fiber cables within the building as well, providing fiber broadband network to every residential, commercial and hotel premise. There are obvious trends in the market to support the proposition of 'Fiber to Every Home' and 'Fiber to Every Office' in many other countries as well. In Asia-Pacific, governments of Singapore and Australia are active in sponsoring the deployment of fiber and infrastructure upgrades to expand optical networks. Vienna in Austria had already planned for Fiber to Every Home since 2005. Amsterdam is another city aiming for FTEH.

'MEA is a growing region and with this advanced solution bringing last-mile connectivity for homes and businesses through FTTH, we can meet our customer's needs more efficiently with the help of Aspen Optics extensive range of optical network connectivity products. Having partnered with Aspen Optics will help us to meet future requirements for ultra-high bandwidth applications for our customers in the region,' said Husein Katib, Business Development Manager, Oasis Distribution FZCO.

The increasing demand for high speed broadband in commercial, industrial, medical applications is pushing the use of fiber instead of copper to support mission critical network connection. The phrasing out of analog TV to be replaced by IPTV and the popularity of HDTV is a key factor to make Fiber to Every Home (FTEH) a necessary reality. In America, analog TV will soon be a thing of the past: the Congress has approved that by February 17, 2009, all TV broadcasters must put an end to analog transmission and stick to the digital mode they have been phasing in already for several years.

Etisalat, Saudi Telecom Company and Algerie Telecom in the MEA region, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica in Europe, Korean Telecom in South Korea, NTT in Japan, Hong Kong Broadband Networks and PCCW in Hong Kong, AT&T in USA, are some of the leading operators heading up the promotion of fiber networks in the residential and enterprise markets. Currently, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, where Aspen Optics is based, are ranking as the top three economies in FTTH penetration on the planet.

'Aspen Optics, seeing fiber connection to be omnipresent soon, is actively expanding its distribution networks in the international markets. Currently, Aspen Optics is serving many global telecom operators and system integrators directly from Hong Kong, and has distribution networks in the Middle East, Africa, USA and Asia-Pacific. We are opening up more distribution networks in new regions to support the growth of fiber network, bringing FTEO and FTEH for more and more countries. By 2010, in all developed countries and major cities in the world, we can expect all new properties construction will follow the standard of having FTEH', said Mr. David Whitney, Managing Director of Aspen Optics.

Fiber network in the telecommunication domain has long been supporting the global IDD connection. Fiber cable is now extending from the underground, from the ocean to every building, every premise. According to Aspen Optics, broadband connection through fiber is actually faster and more cost-effective than copper cable and any other means of transmission. Not just FTTP (Fiber to the Premise) that is popular today, FTEP (Fiber to Every Premise) is the norm tomorrow.