Fiber To the Home

Right after my last post, in which I talked about really high speed internet, I became aware of a number of news reports about fiber to the home (FTTH), a.k.a. fiber to the premises (FTTP). Verizon plans to spend $17.5B (yes, billion) on capital expenditures in 2007–most of it allocated to a fiber to the premises (FTTP) rollout. Fiber provides throughput in the range of 15-30 megabits per second (mb/sec), versus the 1.5-3 mb/sec provided by phone companies DSL connections.

From ZDNet:

While the company reported solid fourth quarter results and added 2.3 million Verizon Wireless customers, analysts are watching Verizon's big bet on its FiOS service, which rides on FTTP. For the uninitiated, Verizon is going through neighborhoods and laying down fat fiber optic pipes that will pump broadband access into your home. Verizon is also hoping you'll buy TV service on that same pipe.

If Verizon's bet pays off, it'll recoup the billions it is spending to lay new fiber optic lines. These lines are designed to feature broadband speeds as high as 50Mbps to the home. If customers flock to FiOS, Verizon will have a moat around its business to fend off Comcast and AT&T. If the bet doesn't pay off Verizon will have a lot of explaining to do.

Interestingly, while Verizon will probably target major metropolitan areas, rural carriers are also working to deploy FTTH.

From the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation:

COLUMBUS – Ohio joined three other states in sharing $30 million in funding from USDA Rural Development’s Broadband Access and Telecommunications Program. Ohio’s share of the funding totals $6,167,000 and goes to McClure Telephone Company in Henry County.

USDA Rural Development's Telecommunications program creates public-private partnerships to finance the construction of telecommunications infrastructure in rural America. Rural Development makes loans to finance the improvement, expansion, construction, or acquisition of telecommunications facilities in rural areas.

The McClure Telephone Company of McClure, Ohio, will use the Broadband loan to construct a fiber to the home system throughout their exchange in Henry County, providing service to 245 data, 808 voice and 256 video subscribers.

And this from the Lincoln Journal (Lincoln County, GA):

Local residents will soon be surfing the net with the best of them as the result of a project undertaken by the Wilkes Telephone & Electric Company (WT&E) to install Fiberto the-Home (FTTH) cable in Lincoln County.

WT&E decided to offer this progressive technology to Lincoln County residents first, due to the high

demand for high-speed Internet access in some of the more rural areas of the county.

The project will be completed in phases. The first phase, which includes homes and business along the Thomson Highway, should get underway this week.

FTTH utilizes the same type of cable that traditionally served complete neighborhoods or towns and extends it directly to each home. The fiber cable eliminates the band-width limitations found in traditional copper and coaxial cables because it is 1,000 times faster than current DSL and cable modems.

I hate to be geo-centric but if they can do it in rural Georgia fercryingoutloud, why not Tuolumne County? Just think of the possibilities for home and business users with connection speeds 1,000 times faster than what is available today.