Fiber to the premises
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fiber to the premises (FTTP) is a form of fiber-optic communication delivery in which an optical fiber is run directly onto the customers' premises. This contrasts with other fiber-optic communication delivery strategies such as fiber to the node (FTTN), fiber to the curb (FTTC), or hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), all of which depend upon more traditional methods such as copper wires or coaxial cable for "last mile" delivery.
Fiber to the premises can be further categorized according to where the optical fiber ends:
- FTTH (fiber to the home) is a form of fiber optic communication delivery in which the optical signal reaches the end user's living or office space.[1]
- FTTB (fiber to the building, also called fiber to the basement) is a form of fiber optic communication delivery in which the optical signal reaches the premises but stops short of the end user's living or office space.[1]
A typical example of FTTH is where the fiber connects to a single-residence house. A typical example of FTTB is where the fiber connects to an office building (or apartment building) which is itself equipped with category 5 cable. (The category 5 cable would then carry the signal the rest of the way to the end user's office or living space.) However, if the office building instead carried the signal to the end user's office space by means of its own fiber optic network, then this would be FTTH. This is true even though no "home" is involved.
Some definitions of fiber to the premises fail to include include both FTTH and FTTB.
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[edit] Confusion in terminology
Many conflicting definitions of fiber to the premises have been used,[2] including the following:
- Fiber to the premises is where the fiber goes onto the premises, but only in cases where it reaches the user.[3]
- Fiber to the premises is where the fiber goes onto the premises, but only in cases where it does not reach the user.[4]
- Fiber to the premises describes any situation in which the fiber goes onto the premises.[5]
- Fiber to the premises is a situation in which the fiber goes up to, not onto, the premises.[6]
[edit] Architecture
An optical signal is distributed from the central office over an optical distribution network (ODN). At the endpoints of this network, devices called optical network terminals (ONTs) convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. (For FTTP architectures, these ONTs are located on private property.) The signal usually travels electrically between the ONT and the end-users' devices.
[edit] Optical portion
Optical distribution networks have serveral competing technologies.
[edit] Direct fiber
The simplest optical distribution network can be called direct fiber. In this architecture, each fiber leaving the central office goes to exactly one customer. Such networks can provide excellent bandwidth since each customer gets their own dedicated fiber extending all the way to the central office. However, this approach is extremely costly due to the amount of fiber and central office machinery required. It is usually used only in instances where the service area is very small and close to the central office.
[edit] Shared fiber
More commonly each fiber leaving the central office is actually shared by many customers. It is not until such a fiber gets relatively close to the customers that it is split into individual customer-specific fibers. There are two competing optical distribution network architectures which achieve this split: active optical networks (AONs) and passive optical networks (PONs).
[edit] Active optical network
Active optical networks rely on some sort of electrically powered equipment to distribute the signal, such as a switch, router, or multiplexer. Each signal leaving the central office is directed only to the customer for which it is intended. Incoming signals from the customers avoid colliding at the intersection because the powered equipment there provides buffering.
As of 2007, the most common type of active optical networks are called active ethernet, a type of ethernet in the first mile (EFM). Active ethernet uses optical ethernet switches to distribute the signal, thus incorporating the customers' premises and the central office into one giant switched ethernet network. Such networks are identical to the ethernet computer networks used in businesses and academic institutions, except that their purpose is to connect homes and buildings to a central office rather than to connect computers and printers within a campus. Each switching cabinet can handle up to 1,000 customers, although 400-500 is more typical. This neighborhood equipment performs layer 2/layer 3 switching and routing, offloading full layer 3 routing to the carrier's central office. The IEEE 802.3ah standard enables service providers to deliver up to 100 Mbit/s full-duplex over one single-mode optical fiber to the premises depending on the provider.
[edit] Passive optical network
Passive optical networks do not use electrically powered components to split the signal. Instead, the signal is distributed using beam splitters. Each splitter typically splits a fiber into 16, 32, or 64 fibers, depending on the manufacturer, and several splitters can be aggregated in a single cabinet. A beam splitter cannot provide any switching or buffering capabilities; the resulting connection is called a point-to-multipoint link. For such a connection, the optical network terminals on the customer's end must perform some special functions which would not otherwise be required. For example, due to the absence of switching capabilities, each signal leaving the central office must be broadcast to all users served by that splitter (including to those for whom the signal is not intended). It is therefore up to the optical network terminal to filter out any signals intended for other customers. In addition, since beam splitters cannot perform buffering, each individual optical network terminal must be coordinated in a multiplexing scheme to prevent signals leaving the customer from colliding at the intersection. Two types of multiplexing are possible for achieving this: wavelength-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing. With wavelength-division multiplexing, each customer transmits their signal using a unique wavelength. With time-division multiplexing, the customers "take turns" transmitting information. As of early 2007, only time-division multiplexing was technologically practical.
In comparison with active optical networks, passive optical networks have significant advantages and disadvantages. They avoid the complexities involved in keeping electronic equipment operating outdoors. They also allow for analog broadcasts, which can simplify the delivery of analog television. However, because each signal must be pushed out to everyone served by the splitter (rather than to just a single switching device), the central office must be equipped with a particularly powerful piece of transmitting equipment called an optical line terminal (OLT). In addition, because each customer's optical network terminal must transmit all the way to the central office (rather than to just the nearest switching device), customers can't be as far from the central office as is possible with active optical networks.
[edit] Electrical portion
Once on private property, the signal typically travels the final distance to the end user's equipment using an electrical format.
A device called an optical network terminal (ONT), also called an optical network unit (ONU), converts the optical signal into an electrical signal. (ONT is an ITU-T term, whereas ONU is an IEEE term, but the two terms mean exactly the same thing.) Optical network terminals require electrical power for their operation, so some providers connect them to back-up batteries in case of power outages. Optical network units use thin film filter technology (or more recently dispersion bridge planar lightwave circuit technology) to convert between optical and electrical signals.
For fiber to the home and for some forms of fiber to the building, it is common for the building's existing phone systems, local area networks, and cable TV systems to connect directly to the ONT.
If all three systems cannot directly reach the ONT, it is possible to combine signals and transport them over a common medium. Once closer to the end-user, equipment such as a router, modem, and/or network interface module can separate the signals and convert them into the appropriate protocol. For example, one solution for apartment buildings uses VDSL to combine data (and / or video) with voice. With this approach, the combined signal travels through the building over the existing telephone wiring until it reaches the end-user's living space. Once there, a VDSL modem copies the data and video signals and converts them into ethernet protocol. These are then sent over the end user's category 5 cable. A network interface module can then seperate out the video signal and convert it into a RF signal that is sent over the end-user's coaxial cable. The voice signal continues to travel over the phone wiring and is sent through DSL filters to remove the video and data signals. An alternative strategy allows data and / or voice to be transmitted over coaxial cable. In yet another strategy, some office buildings dispense with the telephone wiring altogether, instead using voice over IP phones that can plug directly into the local area network.
[edit] Deployment History
[edit] Asia
[edit] Hong Kong
As of April 2006, HKBN was offering its customers internet access via Fiber to the Building and Fiber to the Home. Speeds ranged from 10 Mbps (19 USD/month) to up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbit/s) (215 USD/month), although the speed to non-Hong Kong destinations was capped at 20 Mbps. HKBN also provided FTTH plans for speeds of up to BB100 (100/100 Mbps) and BB25 (25/25 Mbps), for approximately US$25 and US$22 monthly.
[edit] Japan
FTTP, often called FTTH in Japan, was first introduced in 1999, and did not become a large player until 2001. In 2003-2004, FTTH grew at a remarkable rate, while DSL's growth slowed. 7.15 million FTTH connections are reported in September, 2006 in Japan. Currently, many people are switching from DSL to FTTH, the use of DSL is decreasing, with the peak of DSL usage being March 2006.
Average real-word speed of FTTH is 30Mbit/s in the whole Japan, and 50Mbit/s in Tokyo.
FTTH first started with 10Mbit/s (at end-user rate) passive optical network (PON) by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), and 100Mbit/s (at end-user rate) with GEPON (Gigabit Ethernet-PON) or broadband PON is major one in 2006. PON is major system for FTTH by NTT, but some competitive services present 1Gbit/s (at end-user rate) with SS (Single Star). Currently, most people use 100Mbit/s.
Major application services on fibers are voice over IP, video-IP telephony, IPTV (IP television), IPv6 services and so on.
[edit] South Korea
FTTP is offered by various internet service providers including Korea Telecom, Hanaro, and LG-Dacom. The connection speed for both downloading and uploading is set to be 100Mbps. Monthly subscription fee ranges between USD30 and USD35.
[edit] Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city, got its first passive optical network in April, 2006. Nayatel, a privately owned alternate carrier, was Pakistan's first broadband provider to offer triple play services (voice, video and data) over BPON. Nyatel started laying down the necessary infrastructure in April, 2006. The services (as of March, 2007) were available in selected sectors of Islamabad. The company uses Alcatel's 7340 FTTU solution that is also deployed in the US by some carriers. Nayatel offers Analog Video which is carried as overlay on fiber optic using the 1550nm wavelength and will be switching to a digital video headend soon. The video headend is supplied by Scientific Atlanta and the voice network is powered by an Alcatel softswitch.
As of March 2007, two other companies in Islamabad were also planning to offer broadband services. One, Wateen Telecom (sister concern of Warid) planned to use the world's largest deployment of WiMax[7][8] for their services. The other, WorldCall, is a Pakistani company with existing footprint in Karachi and Lahore. WorldCall was awarded a contract from Islamabad's Capital Development Authority (CDA) to lay down telecom ducts along the roadside.
[edit] Europe
[edit] Croatia
The first provider to offer FTTH in Croatia was Vodatel. As of September 2006, Vodatel service was available only in the capital Zagreb, although plans to cover other major towns also existed at that point. The service offered symmetrical 2/5/10Mbps speeds in triple play packages.
[edit] Czech Republic
In Prague, a FTTH (1/10/100 Mbit/s) service called ViaGia provided by T-Systems is available in newer homes built by CentralGroup. In Brno, there is a FTTH service called NETBOX at www.netbox.cz provided by SMART Comp. a.s. There are some smaller FTTH networks in Brno, Frýdek-Místek, Šumperk and Most.
[edit] Denmark
As of 2006, FTTH was being installed in Denmark in the northern parts of Zealand north and west of Copenhagen. The installation was being performed by the power company DONG Energy as part of a project to convert their airborne power infrastructure into one consisting of underground cables. Their plans called for a completion date of 2010, after which they expected to expand FTTH installation to areas that fell outside of the scope of the power infrastructure conversion project.
DONG Energy charged approximately 30$/month just for the fiber installation; actual FTTH services were to be provided by external providers for an additional fee. As of May 2007, options included: approximately 30$ per month for a 2/2 Mbit/s link, approximately 50$ per month for a 10/10 Mbit/s link, or higher prices for a 20/20 or 25/25 Mbit/s link. Alternatively, Jay.net was offering 100/100 at a variable rate- monthly pricing was 33$ for the first 10 Gigabytes transferred plus 16 cents per Gigabyte transferred thereafter.
[edit] France
As of March 1 2007, Orange SA released their first commercial FTTH offer in Paris at 45€ a month for a 100 Mbits internet connection (flat rate) and a set of services including telephone over IP and television. The fiber installation is free. In June 2006, France Telecom/Orange SA launched a test program for FTTH in some arrondissements of Paris. It proposes up to 2,5 Gbit/s upstream and 1,2 Gbit/s downstream per 30 users using PON for 70€ a month.
In September 2006, Free announced a €30 a month triple play offer including 50 Mbit/s Internet connection, free phone calls to 42 countries and high-definition television. The roll-out of this service is planned for May 2007, first in Paris, then other French towns including Montpellier, Lyons and Valenciennes as wall as certain Paris suburbs.
A residential fibre service has been deployed in the 15th Arrondissement (borough) of Paris by Cité Fibre. Bandwidth allocated to each user is 100 Mbit/s with 30 Mbit/s reserved for internet traffic. The package includes Digital Television and VoIP Telephone services along with the above-mentioned unlimited internet starting at 49€ per month. The 15th arrondissement was probably selected for its comparatively high residential population. Cité Fibre was bought by Free in October 2006.
The Cité Fibre website also contains an excellent comparison of residential fibre technology with existing cable and DSL/ADSL.
In 2003 Erenis launched an offer of FTTB which evaluate to 100 Mbit/s in January 2007 including the triple play. Erenis was bought by Neuf on April 2nd, 2007, and this company is planning to offer a 50 Mbit/s triple play service for €29.90 starting at once. Neuf also acquired Mediafibre, a company which sold fibre optic access is Pau, France, in January 2007.
[edit] Iceland
In Iceland, FTTH is being deployed by Orkuveita Reykjavikur (Reykjavik Power Company), which has already begun connecting the towns of Seltjarnarnes, Akranes and parts of Reykjavík, with a projected 50% of Reykjavik connected by 2008 and all of Reykjavík, Seltjarnes, Akranes, Mosfellsbær, Þorlákshöfn and Hveragerði connected by 2012, while deployment in other areas is pending due to agreements with city officials. OR only owns the FTTH network; ISP services are provided by Vodafone Iceland, HIVE, Vortex and VoIP service is now available from Vodafone Iceland. As of [[March 2007, HIVE and video was being provided by Vodafone Iceland via it's Digital Iceland broadcasting system . As time passes, it is expected that other companies will also take part of the OR FTTH network. The monthly cost of having the FTTH in house is 2.390 ISK (approx $36 US dollars) which is a little more than having a phone line in the house which costs 1.440 ISK (approx $21 US dollars); this does not include any services. All FTTH connections are 100 Mbit/s but today ISP services offer speeds of 6Mbit/s, 8Mbit/s, 10Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s and 30 Mbit/s.
[edit] Netherlands
In The Netherlands in the city Eindhoven and a nearby village called Nuenen, there is a large network with 15 000 connections. triple play is offered. Houses and companies are connected with single-mode fibre. The network is owned by the members itself, who did form a corporation. The first European FTTH project was also in Eindhoven in a neighborhood known as the "Vlinderflats". This was a multi-mode fibre but was in 2005 changed to single-mode fibre. FTTH resulted in new broadband services; the inhabitants started their own broadband TV station called VlinderTV.
Since October 2006 the fibre optics connections are being deployed in the city of Amsterdam. In the first phase of the deployment there are some 40 000 connections planned with the first ones being available for connection to end users by the February 2007.
Also, another company is building new FTTH networks in Arnhem, Nijmegen, Amersfoort, Hilversum, Soest, Leiden and Utrecht. These networks are almost completed The first home was connected around March 2005. If all goes according to plan, the last home in these networks will be connected in June 2007. These networks also provide triple play services. Internet connection speed varies from 10 to 100mbit (up and down).
[edit] Romania
In Romania, FTTH was first deployed in Timişoara by RDS. Currently, it is available in Bucharest, Alexandria, Arad, Bârlad, Braşov, Constanţa, Craiova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Galati, Oradea, Piteşti, Reşiţa, Sibiu, Timişoara and Târgu-Mureş. The name of the service is FiberLink.
[edit] Slovakia
In Slovakia, FTTH was first deployed in Bratislava, Piestany and Trnava by Orange. End user speed is 30/15 Mbps (down/up).The name of the service is Orange Homebox
[edit] Slovenia
In Slovenia, FTTH was first deployed in Kranj by T-2 company. Currently optical fiber infrastructure for FTTH is being built by Gratel in Ljubljana, Koper, Novo Mesto, Murska Sobota, Maribor, Slovenska Bistrica and Velenje. T-2 offers speeds up to 1Gbit/s over FTTH. Telekom Slovenije, the national telephone operator of Slovenia, announced that it will start building its own fiber optics networks in Nova Gorica, Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo mesto, Murska Sobota, Celje, Kranj, Koper and Domžale. By the end of 2007, they expect to have 50.000 FTTH subscribers.
[edit] Middle East
[edit] Kuwait
South Surra, in four cities, Alsalam, Hutteen, Alshuhada, and future Seddeek. The project started on 2003, and hasn't finished yet as of September 2006. The equipment is from Alcatel. A typical installation has four RJ32 female sockets and two RJ45 female sockets.
[edit] United Arab Emirates
Dubai Internet City, formally Sahm Technologies offer triple play services to properties within the Emaar properties, Dubai Marina, Emirates Lakes, Hills development.
[edit] North America
[edit] United States
In the United States, the largest FTTP deployment to date is Verizon's FiOS. Verizon is the only Regional Bell Operating Company thus far to deploy FTTP on a large scale. Verizon's initial FTTP offering was based on Broadband Passive Optical Network (BPON) technology. Verizon is planning to introduce GigaPON or GPON, a faster optical access technology.
With its U-Verse product, AT&T (formerly SBC) has pursued a strategy of Fiber to the Neighborhood (FTTN) and is now delivering Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) to select areas. AT&T has deployed FTTN in the Dallas, Texas area, including Richardson, Texas. The company is now upgrading the telephone and broadband Internet network to deliver FTTP in this area.
Broadweave Networks has multiple FTTP installations in new or greenfield communities in the west, including a contract with the Utah State Trust Lands Administration for up to 21,000 units in Washington County, Utah.
EATEL offers FTTP in the Ascension Parish, Louisiana area. Services currently available via their fiber-optic network include telephone, broadband Internet and television, which includes video on demand and regular broadcasts.
T² Communications of Holland, MI has deployed Fiber to the Home in order to deliver phone, television (IPTV) and internet services, and is actively building its own fiber network.
Cedar Falls Utilities is installing FTTP in new or greenfield communities with the goal to completely replace their HFC plant by 2015.
Qlevr Media Inc. - The first FTTH provider in Georgia offering television, telephone, Internet access, and home security over a single fiber.
Embarq (formerly Sprint/Nextel LTD) currently has FTTP available in three areas, including Wake Forest, North Carolina, Winter Park, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Windstream Communications currently has FTTP available in many greenfield markets throughout the southern states
Several carriers, municipalities, and planned communities across America are deploying their own fiber networks.
The city of San Francisco has released a feasibility study for government and public broadband via. fiber optics. This was the result of San Fransisco supervisors' vote to adopt a resolution to encourage certain city departments to consider installing FTTP for use primarily in city operations. This then evolved into the fiber feasibility study which also includes "services to businesses and residents." The study estimated build-out costs of $564 million. It has been released as a draft in order for members of the public to provide comment and input.
Service providers using Active FTTP technologies include YRT2.net, SureWest, iProvo, Grant County, Washington, UTOPIA, and Broadweave Networks. Service providers using passive optical networks include Verizon (FiOS), AT&T (U-Verse), and several greenfield development networks.
[edit] Oceania
[edit] Australia
Australia is starting to deploy more FTTH particularly in the new residential estates of Western Australia. Companies such as BES (Western Australia), GeoMedia (Western Australia, Bright (Western Australia), and Pivit (Queensland) all have commercial deployments although in small numbers (about 3000 subscribers in total).
Telstra have recently signed exclusive agreements with a number of developments across the country again in new estates.
There are a number of trials in Tasmania (TasColt) and Victoria (Aurora, Colt), the Landcom in New South Wales has two tenders out for the deployment of FTTH in up to 9 estates.
[edit] New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand (dominant telco) has started a FTTP trial (dubbed Next Generation Broadband) in a new subdivision (Flat Bush) in Manukau city in May 2006. The NGB provides up to 30Mbit/s downstream speeds over a Passive Optical Network (PON) with the only cost to the customers during the trial being a NZ$49.95 activation fee.[9] Vector Communications provides FTTP in very limited Auckland CBD and Wellington CBD for around NZ$329 unlimited per month. You can also get FTTP services from Citylink in Wellington - price suggests this is for businesses only.
[edit] See also
- Fiber-optic communication
- Fiber in the loop
- Fiber to the x
- Fiber to the curb
- Fiber to the node
- Hybrid fibre-coaxial
[edit] References
- ^ a b (September 2006). Definition of Terms, FTTH Council, pp. 2-3. Retrieved on 2007-03-04
- ^ Broadband SoHo FTTx Tutorial, BroadbandSoHo. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ McDonald, B. The role of the optical services gateway, Centillium Communications, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ Matson, M.; Mitchell, R. (March, 2006). Optical Fibre - Overview,Study On Local Open Access Networks For Communities and Municipalities, The OPLAN Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ (September 2004). Competition in The First Mile: Why Fiber to the Premises is Not the Issue, PricewaterhouseCoopers, p. 15. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ Glossary of Telecom Terms, Verizon Partner Solutions. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ Pakistan plans largest mobile WiMax rollout ZDNet (UK)
- ^ Wateen Telecom-Pakistan Selects Motorola 802.16e WiMAX Solution for Nationwide Network Deployment
- ^ http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/6A7ED6A369FC154FCC2571DB0076DE75
[edit] External links
- Fiber to the Home Council
- KMI Research FTTP article
- FTTH Blog Daily updates on the business and technology of FTTH
- Kingfisher International Application Notes Fiber Optic Testing information about FTTH backbone Terminology.
- Richardson, TX FTTP Conversion Notes Details of conversion to FTTP in Dallas, TX (USA) suburb of Richardson.
- San Francisco Draft Fiber Study
- Muni Wireless article on the San Fransisco Fiber Feasibility Study
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| Wired: | Dial-up, ISDN, DSL, Cable, Fiber Optic, Power-line internet |
| Wireless: | Wi-Fi, WiBro, WiMAX, UMTS-TDD, HSDPA, EVDO, Satellite |
