INTERNET TRENDS: New technology set to eclipse ADSL

Japan firm pioneers fibre-to-the-home advances for domestic broadband users

BANGKOK -- Global broadband Internet providers are promoting fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology to transport Net services to domestic users at lightning speed.

Tetsuo Koga, executive vice-president for consumer business of Japan’s NTT East, said Japan was migrating from Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) to FTTH technology to provide faster broadband Internet.

FTTH will allow the company to offer several bandwidth services, including its Internet protocol video-phone service, Koga said.

He was speaking at the Broadband World Forum Asia fair in Yokohama last week.

FTTH is gaining ground in many countries, including Japan, South Korea and the United States, thanks to its ability to provide a virtually unlimited bandwidth and faster data transmission rate compared to the prevailing copper wire-based ADSL technology.

But a source at True Corp Plc said there was no need for telecom operators to introduce the FTTH concept in Thailand, due to its high investment cost.

NTT East started its FTTH-based content in January 2003 and signed up about 70,000 users in the first month. The number had surged to 2.43 million by March this year. It expects its FTTH subscriber numbers to jump to 30 million by 2010.

As of last year, Japan had 12.7 million broadband Internet subscribers.

Thailand currently only has about 6 million Internet customers, of which 200,000 browse homepages via ADSL broadband Internet technology.

But the ratio of broadband Internet users is expected to surpass that of the narrow band soon, following moves by telecom operators to cut monthly broadband Internet fees.

Data network provider Advanced Datanetwork Commu-nications (ADC) recently introduced a low-fee ADSL broadband Internet service.

Germany’s telecom equipment supplier Siemens provided broadband solutions to ADC’s broadband Internet in a deal worth Bt2 billion.

Siemens is one of the major telecom equipment suppliers with FTTH technology called Passive Optical Networks (PON).

--The Nation 2005-06-06

But a source at True Corp Plc said there was no need for telecom operators to introduce the FTTH concept in Thailand, due to its high investment cost.

Always too little, too late in the LOS (or never at all).

Great piece, however.

I think LOS needs to master the art of standard ADSL before they delve into something more complex.

Yes, I think Thailand needs more Fiber to the Country before there is any point in running fiber to consumers.

Kinda rediculous that you can have a single home with FTTH getting more bandwidth than Phuket (an IT city) gets to the whole island !!!

Kinda rediculous that you can have a single home with FTTH getting more bandwidth than Phuket (an IT city) gets to the whole island !!!

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Sad but true. Wakey, wakey, Thailand. Less "spin", more action, please.

You can't even get a phone line here let alone a fibre

You can't even get a phone line here let alone a fibre

this is the point - but you know as well as I do that profits are for purchasing mercedes' rather than upgrading infrastructure. I sometimes doubt if thailand even has FTTC ( fibre to the country.

Hi Thetyim

I have been on the waiting list in Klong Lan for 2 years.

Maybe they will skip copper wires and go straight into FTTC or FTTH.

I am allowed to dream now and again.