WASHINGTON, DC - A clear majority of the rural broadband stimulus projects funded thus far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are using fiber to the home as the principal access technology, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council said today.

WASHINGTON - The vast majority of the federal government's latest broadband stimulus grants are aimed at bringing direct fiber connections to rural communities, according to the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council, a non-profit group that promotes next-generation broadband.

January 12, 2010, PETALUMA, CA—Calix, a leading provider in North America of broadband communications access systems and software for copper- and fiber-based network architectures that enable communications service providers (CSPs) to connect to their residential and business subscribers, today announced it has received Rural Development (RD) Telecommunications acceptance from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the recently-announced E7 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP).Initial Broadband Stimulus Awards Show Faith in Fiber Optic Solutions

Fiber to the Premises Involved in Majority of Last Mile Projects Receiving Recovery Act Grants and Loans

WASHINGTON - The first broadband stimulus grants and loans made under the Recovery Act indicate that the agencies responsible for those programs are looking to fiber optic solutions to meet the goals of job creation and economic development, according to the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council.

Reducing transport costs would encourage more rural last-mile services at affordable costs, but transport companies have not responded to the need because linking into a fiber route typically costs $100,000 to provide a but with appropriate electronic equipment and power. Recovering this expenditure drives up cost to service providers and makes last-mile service expensive.

A prime objective of the National Broadband Plan is to ensure that unserved and underserved areas in the United States are not left behind and have access to the same broadband services available in served markets. There are problems with achieving this goal, including being able to access capital at reasonable rates for these projects of greater financial risk. Quite frankly, building broadband in unserved and underserved areas presents a financial challenge, with the return often being insufficient to attract both
equity and debt investors.

A white paper from Zhone outlining revenue and cost model impratives for a sustainable service provider strategy to building FTTx.

This session addresses the buildout of a system wide FTTH network for a rural telephone cooperative. The accelerated nature of the process to achieve a three-year implementation will be discussed. Elements of the project such as design, staking, bidding, and construction assistance will be discussed in detail.