Progression Of Fiber Upgrades Is Now Unstoppable, New Pyramid Research Report Finds

Cambridge, MA - Despite the difficult financial climate, the progression of fiber upgrades is now inevitable, according to a new report from Pyramid Research , the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network.

Pyramid Research's latest report, Fiber in the Last Mile: Best Practices, Adoption Trends and the Impact of the Economic Downturn, examines the deployments of FTTx networks in Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe, which have now passed the stage of early adopters and are led by both telecom incumbents and competitive broadband network operators. As many as 98m homes -- 6% of all households worldwide -- are now passed by FTTB/FTTH networks globally, and another 74m homes by VDSL2 networks. Of the 98m homes passed, 70% are located in Asia-Pacific, where NTT in Japan was among the first to pioneer large-scale FTTH upgrades in 2000. Europe and North America each accounts for 15% of the homes passed, and both have plenty of catching up to do in the next five years.

"We found that telcos' need for fiber to the home remains strong, especially in developed markets, where deployments are driven by the maturity of the broadband markets and a proliferation of IP-based video, TV and interactive applications," notes Ozgur Aytar, Senior Research Manager at Pyramid Research and co-author of the report.

The report also found that with mobile operators now offering broadband at speeds and prices equivalent to entry-level ADSL subscriptions, telcos have little time to procrastinate. "After losing the voice game to mobile players in the early 2000s, fixed-line operators can hardly allow the same to happen with the broadband business, which has kept them afloat when voice revenue tanked," adds Aytar.

Download the excerpt of Fiber in the Last Mile here: http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=1&sc=PR010609FIBER.

About Pyramid Research
Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers actionable solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries -- a distinction that has remained unmatched for over 20 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry's most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

SOURCE: Pyramid Research