FTTH Subs Hit 1M

WASHINGTON -- Two leading telecommunications industry organizations, the Fiber- to-the-Home (FTTH) Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), today announced results of a new study showing FTTH deployments pass over six million North American homes, an increase of more than two million homes - over 50 percent - since last March.

The number of North American homes and businesses directly connected via end-to-end fiber now exceeds one million and the growth rate in new subscribers is accelerating – an increase of 50 percent in the last six months. (Charts showing growth are available at http://www.tiaonline.org and at http://www.ftthcouncil.org/)

The new figures, released during the FTTH Council's annual FTTH Conference & Expo, show the most rapid growth of FTTH deployment to date; well over 300,000 additional homes being passed every month. Major FTTH providers, which include municipalities and utilities, real estate developers and operators as well as traditional and non-traditional service providers, are now at full speed in the deployments -- with more FTTH providers coming on line.

"The growth of fiber to the home continues to be dramatic," said Michael Render of RVA Market Research. "Surveys of early fiber-to-the-home users show that they are highly satisfied with FTTH service attributes such as increased Internet speed, on- demand video and HDTV, as well as online gaming. However, there is also increased interest in applications that affect health and education as information becomes available about services and distance learning available through the Internet."

Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council