Fiber-to-the-Home is an broadband telecommunications network which is based on fiber optic structured cabling technology and offers internet and TV services directly to the home users. How did the development of FTTH look in Poland so far, and what will 2015 bring?
Although the amendment of the regulation concerning the technical conditions of FTTH networks in the buildings came into force almost two years ago, there are still only few home users who make use of its benefits. In our country, the current FTTH penetration rate (number of households with FTTH/total number of households) is only 0,65%. This means that in 2014 less than 100 thousand households could use fiber optic super-fast internet connections. Meanwhile, in the developed countries this indicator exceeds 50% and is still rising. However lower values are noticeable in European countries (the highest is in Sweden and Norway and it exceeds 20%), but they are still much higher than in Poland. Despite such a poor result, we should not forget about the Polish National Broadband Plan, which requires that at least half of the households will have access to the internet with a minimum speed of 100 Mbps by 2020.
The European Union requires Member States to develop rapidly in terms of internet connections. Year 2015 may be a breakthrough for Poland as one of the worst countries in this area. Evidence of this is e.g. the fact that Warsaw will host this year one of the most popular FTTH industry conference. On 10-12 February at the EXPO XXI Warsaw there will be held twelfth edition of the FTTH Conference. President of the FTTH Council Europe, Ms Karin Ahl said: " The event timing is perfect for Poland since the country is widely implementing its broadband infrastructure". The event is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Administration and Digitization and the Office of Electronic Communications. The fact that this prestigious conference will take place in the capital of Poland can only accelerate the deployment of FTTH and thus support the development of ICT in our country.
