How Fiber-to-the-

home Broadband
Works
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BY TIM CROSBY
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New technology such as fiber-to-the-home broadband connections allow for easier use
of features such as videoconferencing. See more Internet connection pictures.
ANDREWS POLLOK/DIGITAL VISION/GETTY IMAGES

Stop and think how your Internet usage has evolved during the last few
years. If you’re like most people, you’re doing -- and expecting -- a lot more
of your Internet like increased interactivity, rich media and uploading and
downloading pictures and video.

More large files are moving across the cyberspace network these days, and
experts expect that trend will only increase. A January 2008 study by
the Discovery Institute estimates new technologies will drive Internet traffic
up by 50 times its current rate within the next 10 years.

The pressure for better connectivity is one of the main reasons providers and
users are looking at fiber-to-the-home broadband connections as a potential
solution.

Fiber-to-the-home broadband connections, or FTTH broadband connections,

refer to fiber optic cable connections for individual residences. Such optics-
based systems can deliver a multitude of digital information -- telephone,
video, data, et cetera -- more efficiently than traditional copper coaxial cable
for about the same price. FTTH premises depend on both active and passive
optical networks to function.

FTTH broadband connections already are a reality for more than 1 million
consumers in the United States, while more than 6 million in Japan and 10
million worldwide enjoy its benefits, according to Broadband
Properties Magazine. Many believe making FTTH technology the standard in
connectivity will solve the forecasted Web traffic jam.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to FTTH broadband

connections? How do these connections work? Go to the next page to learn
about the advantages.

 
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