USA - Fiber To The Home (FTTH) available in 18 Percent of North American Homes

[tmc] Fiber to the home (FTTH) service is available to 18 percent of homes in North America, according to a new study.

A recent report from market research firm RVA said that FTTH connectivity lets telecom providers offer high definition TV and quick Internet speeds.

In addition, there are over a half million homes in North America which get FTTH service featuring speeds of at least 50 Mbps, the study said, reports Digital Home.
About 170,000 homes in North America get FTTH service featuring speeds of at least 100 megabits per second, according to RVA.

And the new numbers are over double the ones presented in the 2010 RVA report. Also, the survey also found that overall satisfaction among FTTH users leads satisfaction levels of other broadband subscribers.

In the survey of over 2,000 broadband subscribers, those responding “very satisfied” to the question were at 74 percent – compared to 71 percent in 2010. The numbers contrast with 54 percent for cable users and 51 percent for DSL.
Concerning download speeds, FTTH homes excel subscribers of other services, given their average speeds at 19.7 Mbps – compared to 16.6 Mbps in 2010.
The numbers contrast with an average 13.3 Mbps for cable households and 2.9 Mbps for DSL.

Concerning upload performance, FTTH subscribers average 5.4 Mbps and cable subs average 2.7 Mbps. There is a 0.7 Mbps average upload speed for DSL.

“This year’s survey shows that end-to-end fiber services are extending their lead over other broadband technologies in speed, value and customer satisfaction,” Dan O’Connell, president of the FTTH Council, said in a recent statement. “We expect this trend will continue as bandwidth requirements for the latest video and other applications continue to accelerate, and growing numbers of consumers expect to be able to access them through their telecommunications providers.”

Canada’s Bell Aliant expects to have FTTH service available to over 600,000 households and businesses by the end of next year.

In a related matter, last year Bell announced several new fiber initiatives supporting its broadband investment strategy, such as deployment of fiber-to-the-home in Quebec City and to new housing developments in Ontario and Quebec, according to TMCnet.

Fiber to the Home Available in 18 Percent of North American Homes: Study