"I hope optical fibre is nutritious", said one industry sage, not so long ago, "because you'll be chewing on it for years before you find a way to stick it into someone's home and get some money back".

Not everyone agrees. Established in March 2004, the FTTH Council Europe was unveiled as a counterpart of its US sister organisation, the FTTH Council, which is an unusual entity even by the over-extended norms of US technology lobbying constructs. Under a socio-political umbrella of advanced broadband objectives, it brings together more than 30 vendors who tell all who will listen that FTTH is 'a good thing'.

Europe follows…
Europe is catching on, attempting to recreate this US industry body in a European context. And US firms with a presence in Europe are falling over themselves to sign up.

"Fibre access is a critical element in European competitiveness and FTTH deployment is being driven by a need for service providers and communities to offer advanced media-rich services", said Axel Kahsnitz, vice president and regional director of Europe/Middle East/Africa for ADC. "By joining the FTTH Council Europe, we demonstrate our commitment to the development of fibre-based broadband access networks in the region. We are pleased to participate in the programme and look forward to collaborating with some of the industry's eminent experts in the field".

FTTH, in it's various guises, has been with us for years – on paper at least. However, so far the hype surrounding it in the media is in inverse proportion to actual deployment in the ground. "The council's charter is to educate European governments, policy-makers and political leaders on why and how high-speed fibre connectivity can be delivered to all European citizens within the next few years", says a statement from the Council.

Europe provides a melange of membership for the FTTH fighters: ACOME; ADC Europe NV; Agilent Technologies SA/NV; Alcatel; Allied Telesis International SA; Alpha Technologies GmbH; BECHTEL Ltd; BroadLight Ltd; Cisco Systems International BV; Corning Developments Inc; DitchWitch (The Charles Machine Works); Draka Comteq NKF/Fibre Technology; ECI Telecom Ltd; Emtelle; Ericsson Network Technologies AB; FiberCore Jena AG (j-fiber GmbH); FlexLight Networks; Intel Corporation SA; Lucent Technologies Nederland BV; Motorola SAS; Nexans; Nortel Networks NV; OFS BrightWave Netherlands BV; PacketFront Sweden AB; Preformed Line Products (GB) Ltd; Prodanovic (FiberToThe Home); Quante Ag; 3M Telecommunications; Siemens AG; Teem Photonics SA, Teleste Corporation; Twentsche Kabelfabriek BV (TKF); Tyco Electronics Raychem NV; Uponor-Radius; and World Wide Packets.

Any time soon?
The European Commission has long promoted local fibre without the overt and oblique initiatives which are 'par for the course' in North America, where the lobbyists have long argued that 'gold-plated taps' are the only way forward if investment is to be justified. The actions of the FTTH Council Europe might change all that… but to be on the safe side, file this one under "don't hold your breath". If for no other reason than there's a bit too much vested interest involved from the technologists that dare not speak their names (apart from in the company of their peers)…
Jim Chalmers