Success of Fiber to the Home in Japan Spurs Envy Among Telecom Experts

Fiber to the home (FTTH) has been touted by many as the next great leap in broadband connectivity, and was discussed at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. In Japan this service has already become the leading method of broadband connectivity, with speeds reaching 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps), and a seemingly endless potential for application development. Professor Masatsugu Tsuji from the University of Hyogo presented an analysis on how FTTH has become the dominant connection method in the country. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation is the dominant corporation in the FTTH market with a market share of nearly 70 percent. The cost of these services is also much lower in Japan versus the United States: in Japan, a 1Gbps connection costs less than $40. Because some individuals still prefer to keep their older digital subscriber line connections, NTT must maintain two networks, a copper network for DSL and a fiber network. Japan does face a problem in fostering competition, however, with the high costs associated with fiber connections making new market entry quite difficult. In the US, the question of municipally-owned networked, while popular in recent years, has been lower on the policy agenda. Bert Sadowski of Eindhoven University of Technology looked at how a municipal network added competition to the FTTH market in the Netherlands.