What Deployment of All-Fiber Networks Will Do for America
Because fiber is the only communications infrastructure that can handle rapidly growing fixed bandwidth demands, accelerating FTTH deployment will put in place world class last mile networks critical to the nation's technological and economic leadership - while addressing current economic concerns through the immediate generation of a substantial number of jobs. And, of course, more and better broadband will have a far-reaching impact in how Americans work, interact, learn, and play. These and other benefits include:
- Job Creation - Upgrading to FTTH networks is a resource intensive activity that creates jobs, many of them highly skilled, in manufacturing products, building out the networks and connecting consumers. We estimate that three-quarters of the funds spent on FTTH deployment go directly to providing wages and benefits for people responsible for planning, building and operating these networks. Deployment of FTTH requires many trained technicians and a skilled workforce, which contributes to the employment base of communities of all sizes.
- Savings for Consumers of Telecommunications Services – By providing consumers with a new choice in wireline broadband, FTTH brings price competition for the triple play bundle of phone, video and internet services. Research indicates that when two wireline Providers are present, subscribers achieve savings of between 15% and 22%.
- Empowering Home Based Businesses - Technology is important to home-based businesses, which are growing, are already present in millions of households and have considerable impact on the economic health of communities. Surveys commissioned by the FTTH Council found that 10 percent of FTTH subscribers reported that they were using their connection to run a home-based business, with 90 percent of these saying that having a high-bandwidth fiber optic connection was either "very important" or "somewhat important" to their business activities.
- Becoming More Productive and Improving the Environment – With many FTTH customers reporting that their home connections to their employer's networks are faster than the connections in their office, an increasing number are finding that higher bandwidth FTTH connections make possible the downloading and uploading of massive files, the use of videoconferencing, and reliable access to virtual private networks - thereby permitting them to work from home full-time or, in many cases, work part of the day from home and commute during non-rush hour periods. Our survey found that 9 percent of FTTH subscribers work more from home directly because of their FTTH connection - on average 11 days more per year.
- Community Economic Development - It is generally accepted that the availability of higher speed broadband benefits local economies. A study found that communities in which mass-market broadband became available experienced more rapid growth in employment, the number of businesses overall and more businesses in IT-intensive sectors. The study also found higher market rates for rental housing in broadband communities, indicating higher property values. Surveys in communities with wide FTTH deployments, particularly in rural areas, have found examples of small and medium-sized enterprises that have been able to avoid relocating - and have often expanded their operations - because high bandwidth networks have made it possible to work efficiently with customers located some distance away, and because the availability of high-speed internet and fiber-enabled video in the community facilitated their recruitment of skilled employees away from more urban areas.
- Health Care - FTTH is boosting telemedicine - enabling instantaneous contact between health professionals and patients for remote monitoring, efficient chronic disease management, and more effective responses to emergencies. Higher bandwidth enables the use of a variety of devices - such as video conferencing, remote sensing and conveyance of massive medical data files – that can improve medical care while lowering costs.