Gigabit fiber could takeoff Europe, Asia and the rest of world from 2017-2021

Fiber to the home could take off in developing countries in South Asia in 2016-2018

A gigabit signal can travel 35 miles over fiber versus 300 feet for cable.

Althought wireless LTE have high theoretical speeds, the actual speed is usually similar to DSL because of the number of users in a cellular node. This could change if Artemis can deliver beam shaped targeting of wireless where each user gets their own wireless signal.

The most influential driver for Gigabit Fiber has been Google Fiber. Yes, there are other operators that have been offering 1Gb/s broadband services longer than Google; but Google Fiber has done more to plant 1Gb/s into the consciousness of both consumers and competitors’ minds than any other operator in any market.

Evidence is already emerging that gigabit networks can become an economic engine. Results from a study by the Analysis Group, conducted on behalf of the FTTH Council North America, claimed that communities with widely available gigabit broadband enjoy per capita GDP that is 1.1 per cent higher than similar communities with little to no availability of such services.

Australia gigabit fiber in 2017

NBN Co is aiming to bring gigabit speeds to Australian internet users by 2017 as part of a rollout of new cable technology that will utilise networks currently owned by Optus and Telstra.

The high-speed cable technology, which goes by the alluring moniker Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification 3.1, is capable of providing download speeds of up to 10Gbps, and upstream speeds of up to 1Gbps. NBN Co says Docsis will deliver up to 50 percent more data than cable networks are currently capable of delivering.

Europe Gigabit Fiber Rollouts

Presently, the majority of FTTH subscribers within the EMEA region lie in Eastern Europe, with Russia claiming the most subscribers of any country within this market. However, when we look at this from a gigabit perspective the view is – perhaps surprisingly – sometimes quite different.

One of the first countries to deploy FTTH, Sweden now has a plethora of service providers offering gigabit services over municipal fibre networks, which are enabled either by the municipal network provider themselves, or by third-party open access wholesalers. Labs2 subsidiary Bredband2 claimed to be first to offer gigabit speeds to residential customers in 2004 – for housing association HSB Skåne in the city of Lünd.

Portugal also saw early gigabit action, with cable operator Zon Multimedia announcing in 2009 the availability of a 1Gb/s service for home users on its GPON fibre network. Portugal Telecom responded that it too would launch gigabit service the following year, but reconsidered, rolling out 100Mb/s service instead, and later increased the maximum speed to 400Mb/s.

In the UK, a country notorious for having relatively little FTTH coverage, gigabit provider Hyperoptic will soon reach more than 75,000 homes spanning 480 sites, with a target to pass half a million homes by 2018, while CityFibre is targeting Tier 2 cities with FTTH. In the north, community project B4RN is bring gigabit broadband to villages in a sparsely populated region. In the island state of Jersey, JT has connected around 12,000 properties under its Gigabit Jersey programme, which plans to roll out gigabit broadband to all 42,000 homes and businesses by the end of 2016.

More recently we see a battle brewing in Ireland as Vodafone, in a €450 million joint venture with Irish power utility company ESB, announced plans to roll out gigabit broadband to 500,000 homes, while Eircom countered with an announcement that it would bring gigabit connectivity to 66 communities across the country. Meanwhile, Magnet Networks has already been experimenting with gigabit broadband through its Project Leap in Dublin.

Over the last year or so, we count at least six further European operators that have launched gigabit service – including Lyse Telecom in Norway, Latvia’s Lattelecom, Free in France, POST in Luxembourg, RCS&RDS in Romania, and Swisscom in Switzerland – and many more are making plans.

Spanish incumbent Telefonica said in October 2014 it has started to install XG-PON equipment, which will be used as a basis to offer symmetric gigabit services to residents.

China will have a large gigabit fiber rollout starting in 2018

China will be exporting their broadband networking expertise and technology, just like it does with its energy and transportation programs.

China is planning accelerated deployments of Fiber to the Home with a target to replace all DSL connections in urban areas with fiber by the end of 2017. Realization of such a program would boost the number of FTTx subscribers in China to more than 200 million — up from about 70 million at the end of 2014.

Akamai’s State of the Internet Report ranked China 84th in the world in average broadband connectivity speed.

40 percent of global telecom operators will introduce Gigabit broadband service in 2017 compared to only 15% in 2015. Chinese carriers will also be introduced Gigabit FTTH in 2018.

10G EPON interoperability has been resolved. The current focus is to reduce equipment costs. China Telecom s testing the equipment in 2015, 2016 and is targeting technology readiness in 2017.