FTTH needs a continuous connection from the operator's exchanges to the home. Installing fibre is capital intensive & marred with regulations. Global equipment manufacturers are mainly from the US, Japan & China, and this makes FTTH cheaper and easier in these places. Not surprisingly, US and Japan are leading adopters, and Latin America, South Asia and MEA are slowest. Urban areas, with higher incomes and business districts, have been early adopters.
FTTH is at a break-through stage as seen by the robust growth in suburban areas. This is probably due to falling costs from technological innovations and the presence of low-cost suppliers and installers. Most operators will have JVs or partnerships with suppliers for finance and risk sharing.
Demand for digital services comes from:
* online entertainment, eg. online books, apps, music
* smart storage & telephony systems, eg cloud computing, smart grids.
* e-services like e-learning, e-health and e-governance
FTTx provides affordable, high-bandwidth broadband for:
- HOME: fast downloads, esp. internet video, VoIP, downloading & file sharing, online gaming
- BUSINESS: high data transfer; fast & reliable connection, eg. telehealth, education, community-based security, social applications, mobility & home automation, video conferencing, online storage, major retail, banking, warehousing, property management, etc.
Insight: Significant growth in FTTH market foreseen till '25
Optical Fibre Cable conference: Preface
Surging uptake of smartphones, the rapid proliferation of 4G services and growing use of video-based applications are driving data consumption. This has created a compelling demand for optic fibre cable (OFC) network expansion, both for backhaul and access networks.
1. BHARATNET
➞ The highest demand for OFC has been created by the Digital India programme through projects like BharatNet, a centre-state collaborative project for establishing a nationwide optic fibre network.
➞ First phase of the project was successfully completed in April 2017, providing 100,000 Gram Panchayats with broadband connectivity. The second phase will provide connectivity to 205,000 Gram Panchayats through an optimal mix of underground and aerial OFC networks by December 2018.
2.PRIVATE telecom & cable
➞ On the private sector side, the demand for OFC is being led by telecom operators and tower companies, which are increasingly investing in rolling out OFC networks in order to support the growing data uptake. With the digitisation of cable TV, cable multiple system operators are also investing significantly in deploying fibre for providing video and internet services.
➞ A key emerging trend is operators resorting to the OFC network sharing/leasing model as it brings in cost efficiency while reducing infrastructure duplication. The recent wave of consolidation in the sector will further result in the merging of fibre assets of big industrial conglomerates. This will, in turn, help them improve their data services.
3. SMART CITIES MISSION
➞ Meanwhile, fibre-to-the-last mile (FTTx) is gaining traction as the demand for high bandwidth and seamless data connectivity increases. Government programmes such as the Smart Cities Mission are further creating demand for FTTx.
➞ Besides telecom, other sectors that are contributing to OFC demand are power, railways, and oil and gas. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Bombay Gas Limited, Indian Railways and GAIL have their own set of connectivity requirements and are enhancing their OFC networks alongside their infrastructure (transmission lines, gas pipelines, etc.). These companies are leasing their surplus capacity to mobile network operators.
Supply of OFC
➞ On the supply side, OFC manufacturers are exploring innovations like flexible photonics, high capacity transport, multilayer networking and autonomous networks to help operators meet the rising capacity demand in a cost-effective manner.
➞ While the future outlook for the OFC segment is bright given the need for this technology in providing seamless 4G and 5G services, a number of operational and regulatory challenges exist, the biggest being the RoW challenge. The new RoW rules, which aim at simplifying the process of granting permissions through a single-window clearance system, are an encouraging move, but they fail to address specific issues pertaining to telecom tower companies. The delay in completing the OFC network for defence services is also a concern.
➞ The mission of this conference is to examine the growth trends, market potential and new requirements across key customer segments; highlight key government and private sector initiatives; discuss the major issues/challenges, and showcase the latest innovations and most promising technologies
Brochure for OFC networks in India
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