Fibre-to-the-premises is the ‘ultimate technology’ for delivering super fast broadband directly into people’s homes and businesses - or in other words ‘premises’. Instead of using existing copper cables for the ‘last mile’ of access, it completely bypasses the copper, with a fibre optic cable connected all the way from the exchange to the premises and attached to a modem inside or on the external wall.
Voice, video and data is delivered over the fibre via pulses of light, easily reaching speeds of 100Mpbs and more per home.
Because it uses pulses of light - that literally travel at the speed of light through glass – speed and performance is largely unaffected by distance, meaning a home can be up to 30km away from the exchange and still get virtually the same service as a home next door to the exchange.
FTTP and Fibre to the Home (FTTH) is essentially the same thing, although the term FTTP is often used as it includes non-residential premises, as well as residential ‘homes.’
By Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific director of Innovation, Geof Heydon