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THROUGH THELOOKING GLASSIt is not anoptical illusion: theGrand Duchy is in middle ofrolling out high speed fibreinternet connections nation-wide. Just in time to host apan-European conference.

Professionals from across theEuropeanfibre optic Communi-

cations,sectorwill comctogetherthismotitli atLtixexpoforthe 13thanmialFTTH Conference,which will beheldin LojSJanboTiigfor thefirst timethis ycar,Organisedhy the Fibre totheHomoCouncilEurope—anIndustrytradegroupthatpromotesfibre-based,ultra high speedinternet accessforboth consumersand business—thethree-dayeventfeaturesa prograrnmeot prcscntations,vvorkshops,exhibi-tions and hands-ondemos.

FTTH staiidstbr tothehome,™vvhichis.the useof optical filires toconnecthomesdirectly to a centraloprratingponit toprovidebigh-spcedinternet access.Fibre optic eommu-nicationsusespulsesof lighttotransmitinformationoverflexibleandtransparentoptiral fibres, that are just slightlythickerdiana humanhair andaliowsfor murh higher banckvidth thantraditional copperwires.

Reachingdovvnloadspeedsof upto 1 gigabit per second(Gbps),thepotential of FTTH becomesdearulien comparedvvidithe copperwireDSL internet connection speedsof10to 30megabitspersecond(Mbps)still usedhy the averageindividualconsumerin Luxembourg.

COVERAGE IN LUXEMBOURGYVhhthe government'sstronginterestin attractingnewbusinessesto Luxem-bourgand stimulatingthe localICTeconomy,it isperhapsnot surprisingtliat die Grand Ehichywould be anearlyadopter of the technology.AsPhilippeBolle,rnanagmgdirectorofSkylane Optics, an international

mantifacturer of glassoptical fihreproducts vvitli officcs here, notes:

hasheeninvestinginfibre sincediebcginning.It vvasoneof thefirst countriesto believein diefibre to the home

YvesKoch, an engineer at PostTechnologies,partof tlie state-ovviicdtelecomgroup,confirmstliis,pxplainingthattherirm begandeployingFTTHinfrastmctureasfarbackas1997.'Asof late lastyear,we haveconnectedmoretlian 50%of hotiseholdsto fibre,which is one of the bestdevelopednetworksin On top of diis,100%of Industrialzonesarcalrcadyconnectedtofihre acrossthecountn:

CONSUMERS LAGGINGDespitetherapid increasein FTTHinfrastmcture acrossLuxembourg,ronsumcr take-upoi^ thetechnologyhas been slower.One reason is alack of awareness. there hasn'theena generalrollout, operatorsarenot sokeen to announce an ultrahigh speedserviceabove1 (H)Mbpsthat they can*t yet provide to halfof the saysMarc Kohll,in chargc of statisticsand marketresearchat theLuxembourgInstituteof Regulation, the government'sutility regulatOE lOOMbps is &irtcnoughto dovvnloada highdefinitionmovie in lesstlian 10 minutes, ac-eordingto techindustrypress.Kohll

saysthat internetconnectionsendcesarecurrently labellcd basedon theirspeed, with ultra high speeds onother typcs of networks, stich ascahleand VDSL, alsopromoted as\fibre-speed

A recent studyby the ILR founddiat maiiyhouseholdsin Luxembourgcanchoosebet\veenhighspeedinternetgervicegfrom a number of differentprovidersanddifferent tedmologies.CopperDSLremainstliemostpopular,with 79°/»of consumerscurrendyusingit, hutthereisnowdcar evidenceof a migration tovvardsfibre, with a20% average annu ai increase insubscriberssince2012.

But Bollenotfs: isa limi-tation widi coppercable.Even if itispossäblcto reaehhigh speedsnow,in the longer terni, optical fibre wllbe the only solution for deliveringhigh handwidth to the

AMBITIOUS GOALS

PostTechnologiescontinucsto deployFTTH infrastructure to meet thegovernment'samhitious targetsonbroaclbancl cov-erage,providingwholesaleaccesstotelecomoperators.Though it beganhylaying a hybridcopperand optical fibre networkin1997,in 2010it switchedto a point-to-point infrastructure to enablehigherbroadbandnetworkcapacit)'.And, importantly,asKoUl obsents:>

YVES KOCHLuxembourg'spitblie retecomoperator beganlaying fibre backin 1997

IIWE HAVE CONNECTED MORETHAN 50% OF HOUSEHOLDSTO FIBRE, VVHICH IS ONE OFTHE BEST DEVELOPEDNETVVORKS IN EUROPE.

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THERE WILL FOR SURE BEFULL COVERAGE IN THECOMING YEARS AND ASVVITCHING OFF OF THECOPPER

MARC KOHU.Copper DSL is stillthe rnosr popularoption amongLuxembourgconsurnera today

is a general roll-out in everycommune. Wc doivt have a digitaldivide betvveenmajor ci tiesand ruralareas, but instead it's quite equal

The firm is now working tovvards60% fibre coverage by 2017, and the

govemment's key goal of accessforthe whole population by2020. Havmgalready surpassed the 50% mark,they are well on trark to meet thesetargets. Kohll says: wiil forsure be full coverage in the comingyears and a svvitching off of thecopper

GETTING CONNECTED

Orgamsers saythe conferenee is thehiggest FTTH-related event in theWorld. Xavier Bettel, Luxe,mhourg'sprime minister, who also holds tlierommunicadons and media portfolio,isservingastliis year'sconferencrepatronand will deliver the opening speech.

Hcld in a diflfcrent European cityeaeh year, it is fitting that this year'sfibre confab will take place here.lot is happening right novvin Luxem-

says Naclia Bahaali, Com-munications director at the FTTHCouncil Europe. countrybenefits from aratlier high penetrationof fibre, which shoulcl allow the

conferencs to liave a new echothroughout Eumpe. VVecan also seea high level of engagement andsupport of policy inakers in fibreroll-out and information and Com-munication tecluiologies, partirulatiythe Digital Lctzebuerg

Launched in tJrtober 2014, thisgovernmentiiiitiative aims tostrengthenandcoiisolidate Luxemhourg'spositionin the ICT sector in the long term,and includes the development oftelecom infrastructtires, such astheroll-out of FTTH. In a recent inter-view published on the FTTH CouncilEurope vvebsite,Bettelelaborated onthis: equals birjadbandor~evcn bcttcr—vcry high spccdbroadhand. Fibre-to-the-home isoneof the most, if not tlie most proniisingtedmology for delivering very highspeed broadband. That's also thereasonwhy vveättachgreat importanceto this technology in our nationalbroadband strategi

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FOR A BRIGHTER

This year'sFTTH Conference, underthe tlieme of for a brighter

begins \vith a full day ofvvorkshopscovenng a range oi topics,mcludmg an exclusive tour by PostTechnologies of some of its FTTHinfrastructure. This is followed bytwodaysof conferencessessions,beginningvvithBetteFsspeechand interspereedwith the FTFH Awards 3016 Cere-mony, and a nevvly introduced net-vvorkingevent called Fibration Night.

Indeed, iietworking is a key drawfor many delegates, with GastonBohnenberger,CEO of PostTechnol-ogies,emphasisingthe importanee ofnervvorking vvith other telecom pro-fessionalsduringthe event.And Bolleagrees, stating diat: ''In Europe it isoneoi thebestconferencesfor telecomoperators: ali of them are

SPOTLIGHT ON LUXEMBOURG

Another key attraction is the caseStudies. conference is a goodplace to get Information on \vhat'sgoingon indifferent regionsofsaysKohll, vvhoisparticularly interestedin learning how other regions are >

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implementmg 1 the roll-out ot FTTH,and how infrastructure and rosts areshared with third parties. Hovvever,this year it will bc delegates froniother countries who vvillget the chanreto learn more about the Grand Duchy.In addition to the fibre tour hostedhv Post Technologies, a full-dayworkshop will provide informationaiirt insight into Luxembourg's FTTHroll-out, and a confrrence sessiondedicated to the countiy's wide varietyof smart applirations and services isalso on the pmgrammf.

Another important aspert of theronferenceisdie exhibilion tliat featuresover 100 Industry playersand parmersshovvcasingthe latest traids, pmdactsand findings in the FTTH sector.Bohnenberger notes the influence ofthis exhibition on the ex-plaining that:

r year companiespresent new products and wc areintroduoed to new manafarturers. Weliave introduced an optiral distributionframework, aswell asplanning softvvaiY

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m our network that we discoveredthere in previous There halso a dedicated spaeeknown as TheFibre Expeiienre Zone,whereattendeescan try out new services, indudingHD pnnting and virtuaJ reality

FUTURE-PROOF TECHNOLOGYDespite the large initial in\'estmentrequired to deploy the infrastnactureand slow ronstinier take-tip, FTTHisconsiderpd a future-proof solution,asthe technoiogy has already super-seded the limitations of copper vvirebroadband, offering far higher speedswith greater reliability and loweroperating cosLs.It also requires littleenerg)' to install and operate, making

it a more sustainable choice.

As Bolle puts it: opticalfibre is the key element in the infra-structure of the future for anythingthat nccds to bc /\ndLuxemhourg vvill soon he able toenjoy the fmit of its foresighl, withthe whole population ahle to enjoyultra high specd internet on FTTHonly a few years from now. <

FTTH 2016 takes place at Luxexpofrom 16to 18 Februarywww.ftthconference.eu

H1CHSPEEDINTERNETACCESS INLUXEMBOURGAvallabllltyof FTTH{nfrastrueluraCfor»cast)2015:>50%ofhouseholds2017:flOÄ ofhouseholds2020:100% ofhouseholds

Internetspeedsacntnd byeomuman<IOMbps: 42.3%10-3OMbps:13.2X30-100Mtaps:30.6%2100Mbps: S.9%

NetworkInfrastructureuiadbyconiumcrsDSL:78.6%Cable:11.3%Fibre op\\c.9.9%

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