Fiber to the Home (FTTH)
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Description
Fiber to the Home or FTTH is achieved when fiber optic cable is installed directly to a residence. FTTH provides a much higher connectivity then traditional coaxial cables do. FTTH provides individual residences with internet speeds exceeding hundreds of megabits per second. FTTH currently is available to 2.3 percent of homes in the United States (2). FTTH subscribers grew worldwide by 15 percent in the first six months of 2009 (7).
History
In the 1970's, communication companies started to realize the benefits of fiber cables. Ideally fiber to the home is what they wanted to provide but the high costs at the time prohibited them from doing so. Instead companies started implementing Fiber to the Curb (FTTC) where fiber would be ran through the street but the remaining 30 meters (2) would be covered with metallic cables. With lower costs, companies were now able to profit by installing fiber cables directly to the house.
Future
As America tries to maintain its technological position in the world and as costs fall further, implementation of FTTH will continue to increase in growth. In addition to the 17 states that FTTH is currently offered FTTH pioneer Verizon plans on introducing FTTH service to an additional 13 states (3).
The Stimulus Package of 2009 provides $7.2 Billion dollars for high speed internet, although there is no specified internet speed that must be met to receive these funds (4). However there has been a push from organizations from Google to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation that are trying to make a portion of the funds specifically available to public libraries (5).
The World is Flat
In Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, while describing his second flattener he uses the phrase "Fiber network...made Boston, Bangalore and Beijing next door neighbors overnight (6)." With FTTH the correct phrase would be, "With FTTH you do not only become neighbors but from your living room in your house you are looking through a glass tube to see into someone else's living room in Beijing at the speed of light."
With FTTH the world really does become flat; Columbus sailed over the horizon with fiber optics you can see around the horizon therefore creating a flat world.
References
(1) How Stuff Works. How Fiber-to-the-home Broadband Works. http://home.howstuffworks.com/fiber-to-the-home3.htm
(2) Rantanen, Matti. FTTH - Fiber To The Home. http://users.tkk.fi/mjrantan/FTTH.html
(3) FiberExperts.com. Where is Fios Available? http://www.fiberexperts.com/fios-availability.html
(4) Wired. $4 Billion in Broadband Stimulus Grants Tied to Strict Net Neutrality Rules. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/4-billion-in-broadband-stimulus-grants-tied-to-strict-net-neutrality-rules/
(5) Information Week. Bandwidth Boost For Libraries Gaining Support. http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/policy/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220600556
(6) Friedman, L Thomas. It’s a Flat World, After All. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03DOMINANCE.html?pagewanted=6&_r=1&oref=slogin
(7) FTTH COuncil. Global Fiber to the Home Expansion Defies the Economic Downturn. http://www.ftthcouncil.org/en/newsroom/2009/09/30/global-fiber-to-the-home-expansion-defies-the-economic-downturn