Openreach FTTH Consultations

Openreach are currently carrying out a number of consultations on FTTH
deployment in the UK.

1. 'Openreach is requesting input from Communications Providers on the
anticipated requirements and potential demand for Services delivered over
Fibre To The Premises at Greenfield sites.'
(http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/news...0Issue%201.pdf)
- ending on the 21 May 2007.

2. 'Openreach is requesting input from Communications Providers (CPs) on the
anticipated requirements and potential demand for an Integrated Reception
System over Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) at Greenfield sites'
(http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/news...%20Final_b.pdf)
- ending on the 1st June 2007

(As I have previously posted) Openreach currently intends to offer and
enable FTTP delivered products at Ebbsfleet in Q2 2008. Ebbsfleet is a
Greenfield site currently under development by Land Securities. Ebbsfleet is
expected to have around 10,000 End User premises and up to 9 million sq. ft.
of commercial
offices, retail, leisure and community facilities.

Following initial delivery at Ebbsfleet, Openreach anticipates that a
planned rollout will be carried out to other Greenfield sites across the UK.
According to research, approximately 246,000 new residential and business
premises are built every year. It is anticipated that over time, FTTP will
be the access architecture of choice for 200,000 of these premises.

It also looks as if BT have already decided on Gigabit Passive Optical
Networks (GPON) to be used in any future deployments 'due to their inherent
cost
advantages, ease of service provision and configuration/reconfiguration, and
support for multiple CP connectivity to each End User.'

While these consultations are prmarily to deal with the Ebbsfleet
development (and other greenfield sites), they will have long term
consequences, if BT ever decides to build a national FTTH network, to all UK
ISPs and Service Providers etc.

Regards
Sunil