PCCA Journal|2
nd
Quarter 2010
8
H
undreds of small independent
telecoms, broadband service
providers, municipalities, and
cable television companies
have brought gigabit-enabled, all-
fiber service to a total of more than
1.4 million North American homes
(about a quarter of all fiber to the
home connections on the conti-
nent), according to a report released
in April by the Fiber-to-the-Home
(FTTH) Council.
The study found that all-fiber
networks are now available to 16
percent of homes in North America,
with 5.8 million homes now receiv-
ing television, high-speed internet,
and/or phone service over these
networks.
While a large portion of the FTTH
deployment thus far has been due
to Verizon’s $23 billion investment
in overbuilding its wireline service
in many areas, the report noted
that FTTH is now being deployed
by more than 750 service providers
across North America, with most of
those being small, independent tele-
phone companies that are replacing
their copper lines with end-to-end
fiber to ensure their future competi-
tiveness as broadband providers.
The study also found that more
than 65 percent of small indepen-
dent telephone companies that have
not upgraded to FTTH said they
would very likely do so in the future,
with another 11 percent saying they
were somewhat likely. More than 85
percent of those that have already
deployed FTTH said they would be
adding more direct fiber connections
going forward.
“With Verizon approaching the
end of its initial FiOS expansion,
we are seeing a lot of small local
exchange carriers in the U.S. who
are ready to pick up the slack, along
with some cable TV companies de-
ploying RFoG and some larger Cana-
dian companies going FTTH,” said
FTTH Council President Joe Savage.
Savage said he is delighted that
Google’s plan to build gigabit FTTH
networks in several cities has raised
awareness of how many communi-
ties want superfast connections.
“But our survey results show that
many communities aren’t waiting
and are instead taking matters into
their own hands, sometimes through
their local telephone or cable compa-
nies and in some cases by operating
their own FTTH network as a public
utility,” he said.
Survey: Hundreds of Local Telecoms Already
Upgrading to Gigabit-Enabled Fiber Networks
D
espite slowdowns and spending cuts in
many industries, overall spending by all
U.S. businesses on wired and cellular call-
ing is forecasted to exhibit modest growth
over the next five years, according to a new market
research report from Insight Research. The study
predicts that cellular calling will account for nearly
44 percent of the U.S. corporate phone bill for
telecommunication services in 2010 and is the only
enterprise market segment showing substantial
growth.
Insight’s newly released market analysis report,
Telecom Services in Vertical Markets, 2009-2014
,
reveals that wireless service revenues are expected
to grow at a compounded rate of nearly 18.4 per-
cent annually from 2009 to 2014, while growth in
wired services remains essentially flat. The biggest
spenders on cellular services will come from four
market segments: construction; financial, insur-
ance, and real estate; professional business ser-
vices; and transportation. The study analyzed 14
vertical industries categorized by the NAICS and
focused on corporate spending for wireline and
wireless telecommunications services in each of
the 14 industries.
“The year 2009 was all about cutbacks and re-
trenchment in every industry sector we examined,”
Insight President Robert Rosenberg said. “However,
it is continued demand for wireless services that
will keep the telecom industry in the black over
the next five years, and that demand is going to be
uneven across the various business sectors.”
U.S. Business Telecommunications
Spending Expected to Grow
News Briefs
Continued from page 7