Annual North American FTTH Trade Show Opens with Sold Out Exhibit Hall, Strong Attendance

(ORLANDO, FL) – With the theme “Lighting the Economy,” the 2011 Fiber to the Home Conference & Expo opened today in Orlando, with conference-goers setting their sights on demonstrating the critical role all-fiber networks will play in spurring economic recovery and business growth.

Nearly 2,000 industry executives converged on Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort for the start of the three-day event, which includes dozens of learning sessions and industry panels, as well as North America's largest trade show dedicated to exhibiting FTTH products and services.  Conference organizers said that despite the lagging economy, attendance numbers will likely equal or exceed last year’s strong turnout, while all available space in the exhibit hall, the North American FTTH industry’s largest, has been sold out for weeks.

 “Although it may not be the best of times for the overall economy, the robust turnout at this year’s FTTH conference reflects an enormous interest in next-generation connectivity as an engine of growth,” said Kyle Hollifield, Vice President Marketing and Business Development for BVU Authority and the Chairman of this year’s event. 

The conference attracts representatives from many of the nearly 800 telecommunications companies and other broadband entities that provide fiber to the home services – which are now available to more than 20 percent of North American households – as well as from FTTH equipment manufacturers and engineering firms that build all-fiber networks.

The event features an EXPO Hall with 130 companies showing the latest in FTTH technologies, products and services, as well as a special "Fiber Zone," where more than a dozen companies will be giving live, hands-on demonstrations of ultra high-bandwidth services, applications and equipment.  Visitors will be able to experience live services, hands-on activities and interactive product demonstrations that showcase services best facilitated by FTTH, including high definition IPTV and 3D-TV, home networking technologies, high-def videoconferencing, telemedicine, smart-meters and other green technologies in home energy management, multiplayer online gaming, and FTTH delivery systems - GPON, GE-PON, Point-to-Point, WDM-PON and Active Ethernet systems with indoor and outdoor ONT's.

The keynote address will be delivered on Thursday by Virginia P. Ruesterholz, executive vice president of Verizon and president of Verizon Services Operations (VSO), a global, shared-services business group that operates Verizon's wireline network.   Ruesterholz had previously served as president of Verizon Telecom, where she led the company's rollout of its FiOS fiber to the home service.  Verizon is now the largest North American FTTH network operator, providing advanced and innovative broadband experiences to more than four million U.S. households and ranking as the seventh largest provider of subscription video services in the country.

On Friday, a panel discussion on broadband policy and regulation will feature Blair Levin, who was executive director of the National Broadband Plan at the Federal Communications Commission and now leads Gig.U, an initiative to bring super-fast Internet connections to communities where America's leading research universities are located.  Also joining that panel is Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel for Google Inc., who will discuss his company's efforts to promote the development of all-fiber networks, including the gigabit-enabled service that Google is building in the Kansas City area.

In addition, leaders from across the FTTH industry will share their knowledge about FTTH technologies, deployment techniques, operations and business practices in a series of panel discussions that include Large Carrier Perspectives, MDU Considerations, Marketing in a Broadband Applications Driven World and Lighting the Economy. 

For the third year, the FTTH Conference & Expo will offer learning sessions, conducted in Spanish, aimed at fiber to the home opportunities in Latin America. These will coincide with a meeting of the FTTH Council's Latin American Chapter in Orlando during the week of the conference.

AT&T, Corning and Viamedia are the Platinum Sponsors for the 2011 FTTH Conference & Expo.

About the Fiber-to-the-Home Council

Now in its tenth year, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council is a non-profit association consisting of companies and organizations that deliver video, Internet and/or voice services over high-bandwidth, next-generation, direct fiber optic connections - as well as those involved in planning and building FTTH networks.  The Council works to create a cohesive group to share knowledge and build industry consensus on key issues surrounding fiber to the home. Its mission is to educate the public and government officials about FTTH solutions and to promote and accelerate deployment of fiber to the home and the resulting quality of life enhancements such networks make possible.  The Council organizes North America's largest annual FTTH event, the FTTH Conference & Expo, which will be held September 26 - 30, 2011 in Orlando, Florida.   More information about the Council can be found at www.ftthcouncil.org.

For more information contact:

David St. John, 315.849.3800