Editor’s Note
Fall of the Munis?
Or Rise?
By Steven S. Ross, Editor-in-Chief
Before Verizon started building out FiOS, we listed about 30 public fiber-to-the-home networks, most of them built by small municipalities or their municipal utilities. The list in this issue shows more than twice as many – but the overall number of fiber deployments has risen much faster.

3 Million Sign Up for FTTH
By Steven S. Ross, Broadband Properties
Verizon and 600 other providers continue to race head in deploying FTTH; a weakening economy and fewer Greenfield builds put barely a dent in the triple-digit annual growth rate.

Provider Prospective
Get Out the Vote
By Bryan J. Rader, Bandwidth Consulting LLC
A down economy can hurt cable income from rental properties – but you can limit the pain with proactive management.

First Mile
How good was 2007 for FTTH equipment vendors?
What about 2008?
Market researchers’ numbers varied slightly, but all agreed that business is very good indeed.

Why We Need More Fiber
Broadband IS Electric Power Plant
By Billy Ray, Glasgow Electric Plant Board
The country needs more electric generating capacity to handle peak loads. The CEO of a municipal utility in Kentucky Explains why giving every home in the Tennessee Valley Authority service area an FTTH connection would cost less than building new capacity and would save more energy.

32-PAGES — FIBER TO THE HOME SPECIAL PUBLICATION
Our world-renowned primer, newly updated, is now available as a digital edition.
Advantages of Optical Access 2008
The updated and expanded edition of the classic fiber primer, sponsored by the Fiber-to-the-Home-Council, covers the key economic and technical issues surrounding fiber to the home. It’s the best tool available if you need to educate clients and policymakers, and build consensus for deploying fiber.

Click to Download PDF

Click to Access Digital Edition.

Spring Fever
In North America and around the world, FTTH deployments blossomed. Who’s building what? And who are the vendors? Here are the details.

Municipal Utilities Deliver Fiber to the Premises
Masha Zager, Broadband Properties
Our exclusive census of municipal and utility fiber builds – a new BBP feature – showcases the breadth and variety of these deployments.

TECHNOLOGY

Emergency Stand-Alone Systems
Add Value to the Network
Steven Bruny, Aztek Networks
Guaranteeing 911 emergency service isn't easy for smaller communities; 911 call centers are often some distance away. An emergency stand-alone system can reroute calls locally when outside connections fail.

APPLICATIONS FOR UTILITIES
The Key to Energy Management:
Fiber to the Meter
By Mike Smalley, Carina Technology
The economic benefits of fiber-read electric meters have expanded exponentially. Now fiber can control a household’s electricity use and help consumers save money. Bristol Tennessee Essential Services shows how.

TELEPRESENCE
Update: Telepresence Moves Into the Public Space
A BBP Staff Report
New technologies and new business plans make telepresence a surer bet as a readily accessible business tool.

FiOs and the Economic Basis for
The Coming Ultra-Broadband Age
By Linda A. Schoener, Technology Writer
In an exclusive must-read interview, Verizon Chief Economist Dennis C. Weller discusses FiOs investment and infrastructure deployment strategy.

A Blueprint For Fiber-Powered Big Broadband
By John Windhausen Jr., Telepoly Consulting
How about a Universal Broadband Fund? We could pass every home in America not currently served by FTTH by seeding the marketplace with about $8 billion in federal funds a year for four years.

May News and Views
New products recently announced by AFL Telecommunications (www.afltele.com) provide a variety of tools for fiber deployers.

Here’s a glimpse of others who made the news:

Tellabs
Verizon
Calix
Salira Systems