Over the past five years, there has been notable growth in the Fiber-Optic Cable Manufacturing industry. This sector has grown by as much as 11.8%. Consumers around the world are now using video and cloud services on a lot of devices. This is pushing fixed and mobile operators to roll out FTTH/B. Apart from consumer demand, fixed operators are also facing declining revenues and increased operational costs due to the use of legacy services and technologies. This calls for transformation programs, and one of the key areas of those transformation programs is the FTTH/B rollout. With FTTB, operators can simplify their networks and improve the efficiency of network operations.
Mobile Operators and FTTH
Apart from the adoption of FTTH (fiber to the home) by fixed operators, “pure” mobile operators have also started rolling out FTTH. In most developing countries, the reason for this is to try and defend against the incumbents offered by 4/5P. In developing markets, the rationale is a bit different. Companies are rolling out fiber to the home in an attempt to harness untapped growth potential in the home and SME segments and to optimize investments in LTE networking by offering a strong converged offer.
Customers are signing up for FTTH/B services
Currently, the number of people using FTTH/B around the world has already increased to more than 100 million subscribers. More than 65% of these subscribers are in Asia, and about 7% are in EU27 countries. This take-up indicates that subscribers are welcoming fiber services. Early FTTH/B rollouts indicate a take-up rate of 15-30% over a four-year rollout period.
Operators are gaining market share
Although there is not enough data to make conclusive reports, there are indications that operators rolling out FTTH are gaining market share. This means that these operators are also growing revenues significantly. For instance, Portuguese studies show that there has been an improvement in their respective Meo and Fusion services. These services are being mainly driven by FTTH.
Government support can help
Governments around the world are interested in ways FTTH can help boost economic and social development. As a result, there has been a lot of government intervention in countries like Japan, Lithuania, and Malaysia. Government intervention takes several forms. For instance, they can fund infrastructure or regulate markets and develop legislation. The main advantage of government intervention is a much higher fraction of homes passed.