FttH advances in North America

The number of North American fibre-to-the-home (FttH) subscribers continues to grow at an annual pace of approximately 1.5 million and now stands at more than 4.4 million, according to a study released today by the Fiber-to-the-Home Council.

The report also showed growth in the number of homes passed by fibre networks – from 13.8 to 15.2 million – and showed that FttH networks are now available to more than 13% of North American households, with end-to-end fibre connections now being used by nearly 4% of the residential telecommunications market.

The study also noted that the number of homes receiving video services over FttH is up by 62% over the past year, from 1.6 million in March 2008 to nearly 2.7 million today. Meanwhile, the overall ‘take rate’ – the percentage of those offered FttH service who decide to subscribe – went up for the sixth straight six-month period, and now stands at nearly 32%.

Led by Verizon’s massive investment in FttH technology in the deployment of its FiOS service, the fibre to the home industry in North America also includes hundreds of smaller telephone companies and other network providers, municipalities, planned residential communities and cable television companies that are making the move to end-to-end fiber to deliver next-generation video, internet and voice services.