The FTTH APAC 2015 conference was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, bringing together nearly 300 FTTH experts from the Asia Pacific region. From the perspectives of different cultures, economic development levels, and FTTH construction, diversification is the best portrayal of this vast region. Nevertheless, all countries in this region are racing to move towards economic prosperity as soon as possible. The leaders of this region believe that network infrastructure, including FTTH, is one of several key tasks: from the newly elected Indian Prime Minister to the King of Brunei.

The second round of growth in the optical module market from 2015 to 2020: from FTTx to FTTy/FTTz

Network operators in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea have provided fiber broadband to nearly 100% of their citizens and are now offering speeds of 1G or even 10G. Several potential customers have docked their yachts at the port of Hong Kong, and the operator has provided them with a 1 Gbps fiber optic link (FTTy fiber to yacht). However, 1G speed itself is not considered a luxury now. NTT's Ryuro Nakai said that the price of 1 Gbps speed is cheaper now than the price of 10 Mbps in 2001. This is a 100 fold increase in speed and cost per Gbps compared to 15 years ago!

China's FTTx users rank first in the world and are expected to exceed 100 million by 2015. The latest plan of the Chinese government requires doubling the speed by the end of 2015, while reducing the fees for end users by 40%. India and Indonesia have just started laying FTTx as their governments have just approved their ambitious plan to extend fiber optic cables to the smallest and farthest villages. As mentioned in the title, 'FTTz' is not a true term, but it means laying fiber optic cables to the last resident's home at the ends of the earth in this region.

In the Asia Pacific region, nearly 2 billion people live in poverty. Jakarta city center still uses open-air sewage systems, with only a few magnificent buildings providing "21st century shelter" for Western tourists. But the Indonesian government has allocated 5% of their annual budget (1 trillion x 1 trillion Indonesian Rupiah, or approximately 3 billion US dollars) to connect 20 million residents by 2019. Their plan is to connect their people with knowledge and opportunities on the global network, and then address pollution control.

Several data about Indonesia: Their population exceeds 250 million, the number of mobile phones (or SIM cards) is 315 million, the number of internet users is 75 million, and the number of Facebook users is also 75 million. 4 million customers use internet TV. These people will be the first customers to use FTTx. Indonesia Telecom's FTTH reached 7 million households by the end of 2014 and plans to sign up 3 million users by the end of this year.

India, the most populous democratic country, has elected a new president. Full of vitality. Their economy began to grow. The new national fiber optic network will connect 6.5 million Indian villages by the end of 2016, extending WiFi services using fiber optic connections to 1 billion people living in rural areas. India launches 100 smart city plans, and fiber optic home access is considered essential in all high-rise residential buildings in India.

Except for China, there are not many countries in the Asia Pacific region that can truly turn grand plans into reality in a short period of time. A spokesperson for BBNL, a mainstream network operator in India, admitted that India's fiber optic laying speed needs to be increased tenfold to complete the government's plan by the end of 2016.

The spokesperson listed many challenges, the most important of which is the lack of qualified engineering personnel in this region. Training installation technicians is the first step in these great plans. Provide job opportunities for the poor in this region. In 2015, Indonesian telecommunications company hired 4000 salespeople to promote FTTx services. They needed so many people because the vast majority of potential customers had never heard of FTTx.

Edwin Li from Brunei Telecom compared the challenge of laying FTTx to changing the tires of a car while it is in operation. Because the old core network has a slow speed and cannot support the newly built access network. No matter how difficult the situation may be, according to the will of His Majesty the King of Brunei, Brunei is to become 'e-Brunei'. It sounds very exciting. But Edwin Li and his colleagues need to work hard to make FTTx accessible to 45000 Brunei residents by 2017 In fact, more than 50% of this work has been completed because 2000 customers have already used fiber optic to enter their homes.

The deployment of FTTx in the Asia Pacific region is a real competition, as these countries are competing to bring more opportunities to their citizens through the internet and stimulate economic development. Like the small island country of Fiji, the advantages of FTTx are clear and simple: providing more internet connectivity to tourists will attract more tourists. Every tourist shares their vacation photos and videos online. They became spokespersons for traveling to Fiji.

For major countries, promoting tourism is just a small reason to develop FTTx. But many countries believe that FTTx can greatly advance them. China is considered a shining example in this regard. But how many countries can emulate China? If half of the countries in the Asia Pacific region can serve a proportion of customers similar to China, the demand for optical devices will be strong from 2015 to 2020. Moreover, pioneers in FTTx deployment such as Japan and South Korea have already begun researching the next generation of optical connections. Have you watched the latest UHD video? The image quality is amazing!