WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2006 -- The number of North American homes and businesses with direct end-to-end fiber connections now exceeds one million, and new subscribers increased 50 percent in the last six months, according to the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), which conducted a study on the topic.

The results were released at the FTTH Council’s annual FTTH Conference & Expo 2006, held last week in Las Vegas. THe FTTH Council said 2100 attended the event, along with 156 exhibitors.

Well over 300,000 additional homes are being "passed" -- connected to broadband via a fiber optic network -- every month, the council said. Major FTTH providers -- which include municipalities and utilities, real-estate developers and operators as well as traditional and nontraditional service providers -- "are now at full speed in the deployments, with more providers coming on line," it said in a statement.

FTTH Council President Joe Savage said, “In 2006, FTTH providers in the United States have moved from pioneer efforts into the mainstream and are confirming that it is a question of when, not if, to deploy FTTH.”

Next-generation broadband is a matter of international competitiveness, said TIA President Matthew J. Flanigan. “America has fallen behind in broadband penetration, reducing our relative efficiency in a number of ways,” he said. “Now a number of network operators are starting to deploy robust technologies like fiber-to-the-home. That is a very positive development, because it will allow us to better compete in the international market for converged services.”

Both organizations have urged policymakers to reduce barriers to next-generation broadband deployment, such as streamlining video franchise processes and allowing municipalities to build broadband networks.

The Fiber-to-the-Council also announced the 2006 recipients of its annual FTTH Awards. The State of Texas was recognized with its Chairman's Award, for being the first state to pass video franchise reform. As a result of this effort, states such as California and North Carolina have passed similar reform bills, which have resulted in an increase in FTTH deployment, the council said. Miguel Lecuona, senior vice president of marketing at Grande Communications, a San Marcos, Texas-based provider that is deploying fiber in new areas of the State, accepted the award.

The Star Award was presented to Tom Cohen, attorney, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, for his work in the telecommunications industry as a legal advisor and advocate. Cohen is the former legal counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and has been an advisor to companies wishing to influence government public policy actions in the communications sector. He gas delivered testimony before the FCC and the House of Representatives that resulted in the passing of the Telecom Reform Bill (Barton Bill) and is currently working in numerous state legislatures on behalf of the FTTH Council for telecommunications reform.

Michael Kunigonis Jr., product line manager-access at Corning Cable Systems Inc., was the recipient of the Photon Award. As a member of the 2006 FTTH Council Planning Committee, Kunigonis has been instrumental in securing the Council’s influential keynotes and conference speakers and spearheaded the innovative Fiber-Powered Pavilion, which debuted at the 2006 FTTH Conference & Expo. As Chair of the Council’s International Committee, he worked closely with the sister Councils of Asia Pacific and Europe to develop the first definitions and standards of FTTH terms for global use, the council said. For more information, visit: www.ftthcouncil.org

Band Class Spec Standards Issued The TIA announced today it has published a new standard, "Band Class Specification for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Systems," TIA-1030-A, for band class specifications of the IMT-2000 CDMA multicarrier mode, IMT-2000 CDMA MC (also known as cdma2000). The IMT-2000 CDMA multi-carrier mode consists of the base cdma2000 standard, "Physical Layer Standard for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Systems," TIA-2002.2-D, March 2004, and the IMT-2000 CDMA high rate packet data air interface, "cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air Interface," TIA-856-A, April 2004. Equipment built to this standard can be used in a band subject to allocation of the band and the rules and regulations of the country to which the allocated band has been assigned.

TIA-1030-A was created by TIA TR-45 Mobile and Personal Communications Systems, TR-45.5 Subcommittee on Spread Spectrum Digital Technology and released August 2006. To obtain copies of the document, contact Global Engineering Documents at (800) 854-7179 or visit: global.ihs.com