19/06-09   -   Press releases

FTTH: Europe in the Fiber Optic Age

R&M predicts wave of investment/Fiber To The Home as the mass market of tomor-row/Swiss model has advantages

Europe is at the threshold of the fiber optic age. Swiss cabling specialist Reichle & De-Massari (R&M, www.rdm.com) says 2009 marks the start of a new era. Numerous net-work operators, municipal utilities and local governments have set off a wave of in-vestment in recent months.

They want to supply residential and business buildings with largely fiber optic connections because the old copper cabling will soon no longer suffice to access communication net-works. The growing Internet data network plus new online and multimedia services require increasing amounts of bandwidth and better transmission technology. From what we know today, FO cabling is needed throughout the system to achieve transmission speeds higher than 50 megabits per second. The solution for which many locations are striving is called FTTH or Fiber To The Home (fiber from the cabinet to the home). Forums, workshops and conferences are being conducted nearly weekly throughout Europe on the subject of FTTH. Everywhere experts are confirming that copper cabling will soon be outmoded. Heavy Read-ing, a market research institute, has found that the number of European FTTH households will increase more than five-fold from 2009 to 2013, from four million to over 20 million.

Pluses: quality of life, jobs, advantage for Europe as a business location
R&M CEO Martin Reichle: “Fiber To The Home is no pipe dream. It is the logical conse-quence of the growth in Internet applications. FTTH means quality of life. For instance, it al-lows users to upload four gigabyte vacation movies onto the Internet just as fast as they can download full-length feature films - in less than 20 minutes." Ultimately only a high quality FO infrastructure can offer the bandwidth, security and transmission quality needed to use sev-eral multimedia computers, game consoles, HDTV sets with Internet access and further net-work systems within a single household.

An Ovum study presented in February at the Congress of the FTTH Council Europe in Co-penhagen, Denmark, says FTTH and ultra broadband infrastructures can benefit the educa-tion and health care system, teleworking, the housing industry, services and public adminis-tration. In a study conducted for the EU Commission in 2008, the German-based consulting firm WIK-Consult says expanding the broadband networks in Europe could create as many as two million new jobs by the year 2015. Broadband expansion and the use of online appli-cations must be actively pushed to achieve sustainable growth, for rural regions in particular. Roland Kohler, Head of the R&M Business Unit Public Networks, sees his own views subs-tantiated: “A powerful FO network will be the key infrastructure in the future for each business location. R&M is convinced that FO connections for residential and business buildings will be the next mass market after the DSL boom."

Modularity: the answer to the diversity of network designs
But each country, each city and region has different conditions and a separate set of expan-sion plans. The task calls for expertise, innovation and flexible cabling technology, just the strengths R&M offers. The Swiss family company considers itself a leading supplier capable of supporting all current concepts and protocol systems for broadband and ultra broadband transmission. R&M has solutions for the complete installation of FO networks and hybrid networks and for successive migration from copper and coax to FO.

A modular range of copper and FO cabling is what makes this possible. It covers the com-munication path from the switching and computing centers through the network nodes and distributors outdoors to the building and user connection and also includes in-home network-ing. Using the modular principle, network operators can plan their FTTH projects in accor-dance with their own strategies, investment capabilities and local conditions and develop their market flexibly to meet requirements and the competitive situation.

R&M is currently investing massive amounts in developing new products and in accelerating installation and servicing and making them safer and more reliable. R&M has increased its investment in the development of new FO product solutions by ten percent this year as com-pared with 2008.

Standards: Swiss approach is exemplary
R&M considers Switzerland to have a good starting position along with frontrunners Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. The Swiss four-fiber model for FTTH connections at the end cus-tomer is considered an international model. It was created in collaboration with an FTTH working group initiated by the Swiss Federal Office of Communication (OFCOM). This model promotes cooperation and competition alike. Network operators can cut costs on things like interfaces and outlets with cabling collaboration and joint standards. Users can easily switch providers if multiple cables are in place. This would ensure open access, i.e. unbundling and competition at the network access.

No other country in Europe has taken an approach so attractive for network operators. In R&M’s experience, there are not even national standards right now for the point at which service passes into households. Other obstacles are the unresolved regulation issues at the level of the EU Commission and the national authorities.

And yet authorities in the Netherlands have found a solution for regulating competition in access networks that has already triggered a boom in FO network growth. R&M expects Scandinavia, the Baltic region, Eastern European states, Austria, France and Portugal all to see an upsurge in FTTH over the next five years. Business locations will progress especially far where local suppliers and small network operators act quickly and in step with the market, where local and regional policymakers apply a certain degree of pressure and where local demand for bandwidth and Internet access that is more reliable is expressed on a massive scale.

Owing to its international activities, R&M is familiar with FTTH strategies on markets from Europe to the Far East. In recent times, R&M has acted as a consultant and supplier of con-nection and distributor equipment in a number of major projects. Martin Reichle: “R&M un-derstands how to push FO networks into the most varied locations efficiently and at a rea-sonable cost, be they industrial parks, accommodations or housing and business buildings." The current issue No. 36 of the R&M customer magazine Connections provides decision-making tips and background information and can be downloaded from the R&M Internet site at www.rdm.com.
Last hurdle: home wiring
R&M emphasizes an important point: “For all the euphoria about FTTH, it is important to re-member that home wiring itself often falls short of broadband requirements." The broadband range has to be unrestrictedly available to consumers within their homes, like water, heat and electricity, in order to gain acceptance and be fully beneficial. R&M advises end-to-end solutions to prevent the section between distribution point and home applications from be-coming a bottleneck. Switzerland is considered to have an advantage over other business locations in this respect, too. Leading providers offer upgrading of home distribution systems to home and apartment right along with their services.

Costs are manageable, says R&M. A multimedia home network can be installed with an in-vestment as small as a few hundred Euros. Andreas Klauser, R&M System Manager for Home Cabling: “We have defined a scenario for each typical building situation, especially older structures. These scenarios can be called up by electricians, planners and homeown-ers." Innovative FO cables for older structures are already available on the market. Ultra-thin and easily bent, they can be installed without risk even where space is at a premium.

For new buildings and renovations, R&M recommends the home wiring system with struc-tured cabling in compliance with EN 50173-4. It enables professional broadband and multi-media service plus high performance data transmission for all home applications. That means the service provided at the FTTH home access can be flexibly used in each room. Roland Kohler: “The better the quality of the infrastructure, the more extensive will be the use of entertainment, information and business services on the Internet. This trend can be observed worldwide and confirms that FTTH is the right path." A study by Ventura, a consulting firm, substantiates this view: Households with FTTH connections generate three times more data traffic than those with DSL connections.

New Media page at www.rdm.com

Dear Media Makers,

The Internet is an indispensable instrument in your work. Users’ needs change. For us, that means constantly optimizing available information. We have redesigned our media corner with you in mind and have fit it with a number of additional useful functions.

You can view all the latest information at the new entry page
http://www.rdm.com/de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1467 in the media section. A number of additional information items are available over quick links right next to this information, in the navigation area. Another highlight is the new picture gallery where all photos contained in the media releases are arranged by subject. With the convenient download function, you can select a photo and download it with the click of your mouse.

If you do not find the information you are looking for, please feel free to contact us in person. We are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Facts & Figures
Reichle & De-Massari AG (R&M) develops and produces cabling solutions for communication networks. R&M has earned a reputation as a quality leader with its excellent copper and fiber optical products. The company has its own marketing organizations in 30 countries. It generates 78 percent of its sales abroad. Sales in 2008 totaled CHF 247 million; EBIT was 7 percent. The company invests more than CHF 10 million in research and development every year. R&M is one of the 500 largest companies in Switzerland and currently has more than 670 employees. The company is wholly owned by the Reichle family and is now being run by the second generation as an independent family-owned company.