Advanced Television

FTTH Council Europe celebrates 15th anniversary

September 26, 2019

The FTTH Council Europe is hosting a high-level event to celebrate 15 years of our work and efforts to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, empowering a leading Digital Society throughout Europe. Created in 2004 by five founding members: Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Corning, Emtelle and OFS, the organisation was originally set up as a technology-focused, vendor entity. Since then, the structure, membership and the mission of the FTTH Council Europe have evolved considerably to embrace the entire fibre value chain and broaden its scope.

With the recent adoption of the European Electronic Communications Code, Europe has committed to delivering fibre based Very High Capacity Connectivity to every citizen and business. With an FTTH/B coverage of 36.4%1;there is still a long way to go and Europe needs to step up efforts to effectively deliver a world-class, fibre-based infrastructure that enables the digitalisation of all other sectors and society. Therefore, we urge the EU Institutions and the Member States to prioritise investment in and take-up of full fibre-based very high capacity networks until every citizen and business is connected in Europe.

Sustainable digital transformation of European industries will be instrumental in achieving the goal of energy efficiency and taking effective actions against climate change. Fibre and fibre-based 5G can significantly contribute to reducing power consumption compared to older and less future-proof technologies. Figures show that the lower consumption of fibre can result in 40 to 60% energy savings compared to copper.

To mark the 15th anniversary of the continuous work on making Europe fit for the Digital Age, the FTTH Council Europe proposes the following priorities to be at the core of the EU’s long-term strategy for Europe’s industrial future:

  1. Continue and accelerate efforts to lower the costs and increase the efficiency and speed of fibre and 5G deployment by more effective measures cutting red-tape and network construction costs everywhere in Europe;
  2. Contribute to the fight against climate change by facilitating copper switch-off;
  3.  Improve consumer awareness and thereby the take-up of Very High Capacity Networks by effectively addressing misleading advertising practices;
The FTTH Council Europe was born with the aim of striving for more and we encourage the entire digital sector to join us in our efforts to make Europe a Gigabit continent.

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