re: FTTH in Japan
We recently did some coverage on the Fiber to the Home initiatives in both Canada (Canarie-related) and Sweden. We also touched on some Japanese movement in this area. The stories I've copied below come to us courtesy of elmatador, who was kind enough to send me a note pertaining to two of them, via PM. Thanks for the heads up, Mat. In the first story, a NTT official reiterates the stated goal that I mentioned the other day concerning NTT's intentions to convert its underground plant to fiber, exclusively, by 2010:
"Miyazu made it clear that NTT cannot afford to stand by idly. NTT has passed the stage of merely boasting about how many fiber-optic cables it plans to lay in its access area, he noted. Yet he said, 'We are not going to abandon our basic plan to convert to fiber optics all underground trunk lines for the subscriber-line network up to their terminal points by 2010.'"
What's going on here? The bulk of American attention is still focused on the two, arguably three, inferior technologies that were designed in the early Nineties, while advances are being made elsewhere, abroad, in the FTTH model. One of these stories (the first) even speaks about the involvement of power companies as not imminent, but present, competitors in this arena.
I say something is going to give here in this respect, soon. If I have to say only one thing negative about these stories it's the "undershoot" that the operators are planning in terms of number of homes served per link. [Note the concentration levels in the fourth story down.] They'll learn about this shortcoming, but quick.
FAC
------------------------------------
bizns.nikkeibp.co.jp
TITLE : NTT Expects Competition with Power Companies in FTTH Service
December 27, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) expects competition to develop between it and electric power companies in laying fiber-optic cables to households, or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), NTT President Junichiro Miyazu told the press Dec. 22.
Until now, there has been little discussion about what companies will construct the ultra-high capacity FTTH network and how they will proceed with the work. This was the first time Miyazu had addressed the subject of laying FTTH in a competitive environment.
Miyazu's comments came in response to Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.'s announcement on Dec. 21 that it will lay FTTH inside its own power conduits. Starting in fiscal 2000, Chubu Electric Power plans to run fiber optics to some 3.4 million households in major metropolitan areas, such as Nagoya, at a rate of 200,000 to 300,000 households annually.
The lines will be utilized in the electricity business for such procedures as automated inspections, and could also be leased to communications companies and cable television broadcasters as fiber-optic core lines for Internet services and TV broadcast services.
NTT's president reacted to the idea by saying, "Actually doing this will take some time, so we do not need to overreact." But he also added, "As Tokyo Electric Power is also laying fiber optics, there will be competition (with electric power companies in FTTH)."
Miyazu made it clear that NTT cannot afford to stand by idly. NTT has passed the stage of merely boasting about how many fiber-optic cables it plans to lay in its access area, he noted. Yet he said, "We are not going to abandon our basic plan to convert to fiber optics all underground trunk lines for the subscriber-line network up to their terminal points by 2010."
"The problem at present is launching a service plan rather than an installation plan," he said. "We are at the stage where the issue of what kind of services will be provided using fiber optics needs to be seriously incorporated into the discussion." Thus Miyazu indicated that NTT will launch specific services based on fiber optics by the end of 2000.
In addition, Miyazu also addressed the advent of inexpensive, around-the-clock Internet connection services using asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL). The services are breaking down the fee structure that until now has allowed companies to charge more for faster communications.
"Prices will fall as new services and technologies become available, and the rest (conventional services and technologies) will be left behind. It will be impossible to lower fees across the board for all services as a whole," Miyazu added, indicating that a certain degree of non-uniformity in pricing is inevitable between the new and old services.
(Nikkei Communications)
------------------------------------
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com :
TTNet Likely to Offer 10Mbps FTTH Service Ahead of NTT
September 27, 2000 (TOKYO) -- Tokyo Telecommunications Network Co., Inc. (TTNet) is considering offering a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service to enterprises as a package that includes Internet access through a 10Mbps network, the ability to receive and transmit large volumes of content and use of a system for paying fees.
TTNet is a regional telecommunications carrier in the Kanto region.
TTNet will be offering the services it believes the business will be feasible if it can offer a level of service for which customers are willing to pay a monthly fee of 20,000 to 30,000 yen, a company executive said. (107.36 yen = US$1)
According to the TTNet executive, his company is likely to start the service before NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. launch a full-scale FTTH service. It intends to start its service in limited areas where high demand can be expected, and to gradually expand the service coverage.
The two regional phone companies, NTT East and NTT West, are working toward introducing an array of home Internet access services via fiber-optic cables at a monthly fee ranging from 4,000 yen to 30,000 yen.
The two NTT companies are expected to begin offering a trial 10Mbps service in some areas of Tokyo and Osaka in December 2000. Full-scale commercial services are scheduled to be launched in December 2001.
-----------------------------------------
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com :
New Players to Deliver High-Speed Access Services in Japan Using Optical Fiber
September 29, 2000 (TOKYO) -- Two companies, eAccess Ltd. and IP Revolution Inc., announced separate plans to offer fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services via optical fiber laid to homes and offices.
The two companies will either lay their own fiber, or lease unused "dark fiber" from other carriers, to provide Internet access services over high-speed lines. Both companies were granted Type-1 telecom carrier licenses by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on Sept. 27.
EAccess currently offers digital subscriber line (xDSL) services using the copper telephone wires of the NTT regional telecom operators, NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. Nifty Corp. and NEC Corp. are already offering Internet access services via eAccess's asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) network.
The new fiber-optic service has a leased-line option for corporate subscribers. The service is slated to start in April 2001, and will be offered in the central business district of Otemachi in Tokyo. In addition, eAccess expects to build fiber-optic relay networks to connect its xDSL lines.
IP Revolution is a new telecom carrier, established by one of the companies of Softbank Group, Softbank Networks Inc., this April. It is headed by Yutaka Shinto, former president of SpeedNet Inc. The company said that it will offer Internet access at faster speeds than xDSL services, using optical fiber laid to office buildings and subscriber residences. Services will start in May 2001 in limited areas of Tokyo.
Besides these two new players, other telecom carriers have announced plans to provide FTTH services. NTT's two regional operators plan to launch a trial FTTH service covering all of Tokyo's 23 wards and part of Osaka, starting as early as December this year. And in April 2001, U's Communications, a subsidiary of cable operator Yusen Broad Networks Inc., plans to launch an FTTH service in parts of Tokyo's 23 wards. Although coverage will be limited, FTTH services promise to become a definite option during 2001.
------------------------------------------------
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com :
NTT's 10Mbps FTTH Service to Start in December
September 14, 2000 (TOKYO) -- NTT regional telephone companies will launch their fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) test service in December 2000 at the earliest.
NTT East Corp. announced the outline of the service at a study session for Internet service providers held on Sept. 7. The test service will cover Tokyo's 23 wards and Osaka for one year. Within that coverage, target areas already have their backbone subscriber lines installed with optical fiber.
The FTTH service is an access line service where NTT regional companies install optical fibers to user homes. It will offer three different menus: (1) optical IP connection service (basic menu), (2) optical IP connection service (high-throughput menu), and (3) multi-user multiplexing optical IP connection service (menu for complex housing areas). The maximum transmission speed will be 10Mbps for all three services, but will produce different throughput levels depending on the number of users who will share the service.
The basic menu in (1) will be provided for small office home office (SOHO), and its 10Mbps bandwidth will be shared by around 256 users at maximum. The monthly user rate for this menu will be around 15,000 yen. The menu (2) will be for enterprises, in which a maximum 32 users will share 10Mbps bandwidth. NTT is studying offering it to users for 30,000 yen monthly. The menu (3) provided for congregate houses will lay optical fibers in apartment-type houses, buildings, and the like where 20 to 30 users in those buildings will share one line. It will be further multiplexed at NTT stations so that 750 users at maximum will share 10Mbps bandwidth. According to NTT's plan, the monthly rate per user in those buildings will be somewhat more than 4,000 yen.
In order to use the FTTH service of NTT regional companies, users are required to subscribe separately to an ISP's connection service. ISPs will start studying possible service menus to add to their existing ones for the FTTH service in the future. They will have their new menu ready when the FTTH test service is launched.
One characteristic of NTT's FTTH service is that users will be able to freely change their ISPs only if they subscribe to more than two ISPs. They may just type in their provider's name and user ID on their PCs, so that they can easily change their access. This is because NTT regional companies' "regional IP network" link their optical fiber lines with any provider a user wishes. NTT employs "point-to-point protocol over Ethernet" to enable an authoring function equal to Flet's ISDN. Therefore, users can change their current ISP just by typing in their ID, including the provider name. NTT regional companies are planning to distribute the PPP over Ethernet software that will be installed in users' PCs.
Related story: NTT to Offer Fiber-Optics Net Access in Fall
(Nikkei Communication) |
